Kitty Stieglitz 1915 - 1916

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Kitty sometime in his career. The colours! They feel so different from black and white photography, which can often feel historical. This feels intimate, present, like a memory. Look at the mottled quality of the background, and the way that the colours are built up through layers of transparent pigment. The surface is grainy, almost like a painting, and this adds to the sense of depth and atmosphere. I am really drawn to the red cardigan. Its knitted texture contrasts beautifully with the smooth surface of her skin and the soft focus of the background. The black tie is also so striking, a bold, almost sculptural form against the gentle tones of her blouse. It's a very contemporary colour combination. This photograph reminds me of some of the portraits by Alice Neel, or even Marlene Dumas, which are all about capturing a sense of interiority, of psychological depth, through the materiality of paint. It is a reminder that art is always in conversation with itself, and that there is always more to see than meets the eye.