Georgia O'Keeffe 1918

Alfred Stieglitz made this gelatin silver print, a portrait of Georgia O’Keeffe, with photography. The tones of the image, like delicate washes of ink, feel incredibly subtle. It's a dance of light and shadow that reminds me of the way one might slowly build up layers of paint, letting each one breathe, revealing the whole thing, bit by bit. There’s a kind of soft focus, like he’s seeing her not just as she is but as she *feels*. Look at how the light catches the planes of her face, the set of her jaw, and the way she looks just slightly off-camera. The slight blur around the edges makes it feel like a memory, something tender and fleeting. It reminds me a bit of how Gerhard Richter uses a similar technique in his paintings. They’re both about the process of seeing, how we perceive and remember.