Shadow in Lake 1916

Alfred Stieglitz made this small photograph, Shadow in Lake, using gelatin silver. I love how Stieglitz plays with light and dark, solid and ephemeral. The image is a dance between what’s reflected and what’s actually there. Is the shadow looming over or melting into the lake’s surface? This reminds me that what we see in art, and in life, is always a kind of projection, a merging of inner and outer worlds. Look closely at the texture of the ground, and notice the subtle variations in tone, the way light catches on the water. There’s a tactile quality to the image. Stieglitz was part of a generation who wanted photography to be seen as art, not just documentation, and you can see that ambition here. Like the later work of someone like Robert Frank, there’s this push and pull between realism and something more poetic. I'm also reminded of painters like Gerhard Richter, who used photography as source material, blurring the lines between mediums. Ultimately, this little picture is a reminder that art is not about answers, but about asking better questions.