Rebecca Salsbury Strand 1922

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Rebecca Salsbury Strand, using his camera, and a darkroom. He was a real craftsman, Stieglitz, like a painter mixing the perfect tone. Look at the way he coaxes the light, almost like he's painting it onto the photographic paper. It's not just about capturing a likeness; it's about feeling the weight and presence of his subject, the texture of her skin, the angle of her gaze. I love how he works with the grayscale, pushing it to its limits. It's a kind of intimacy, a quiet conversation between light and shadow. Her face is softly lit, tilted upwards, a gesture towards something beyond the frame. The wood grain in the background feels almost sculptural, like a Brancusi. This interplay of textures and tones, it's pure poetry. You can see echoes of his work in artists like Robert Mapplethorpe, that same raw, unflinching gaze, but Stieglitz had a tenderness, a deep affection for his subjects, that sets him apart.