Fiola Flannery, Kitty Stieglitz 1902

Alfred Stieglitz captured Fiola Flannery and Kitty Stieglitz in a photograph, employing the soft focus and natural light typical of the Photo-Secession movement. The children, adorned in the fashion of the time with hats and light dresses, are playing with a bucket. The bucket, seemingly mundane, carries echoes of ancient vessels used in rituals. Consider the amphora, ubiquitous in classical antiquity, used for storage but also integral to funerary rites, symbolizing the vessel of life. Or the holy water vessels depicted in religious Renaissance paintings. Similarly, the children's attire, with their pristine white dresses, evokes a sense of innocence, reminiscent of baptismal gowns and angelic purity. These symbols engage us on a subconscious level, tapping into our collective memory. Childhood play becomes imbued with a deeper, almost sacred quality. Stieglitz masterfully uses these visual cues, these persistent motifs, to elevate the scene. The bucket in this photograph, like the vessels of old, serves as a container of dreams.