Equivalent 1925

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Equivalent, with his camera. It’s a gelatin silver print, capturing clouds in a way that feels both abstract and deeply emotional. Look at the textures here – the way the light catches the edges of the clouds. The tones range from velvety blacks to luminous grays. It's like Stieglitz wasn't just documenting the sky but was trying to capture something internal. He allows the image to be soft and the tones to merge into one another. A central, bright area draws your eye in, maybe that’s the moon peeking through? It reminds me of some of Gerhard Richter’s abstract paintings, where the blurriness and the layering of tones create a similar feeling of ambiguity. Both artists embraced the idea that art doesn’t have to be literal; it can be a space for feeling and questioning. And maybe that's what art is all about. It’s not about finding answers but about embracing the questions.