New York from the Shelton 1935

Alfred Stieglitz made "New York from the Shelton" using photography, and it captures a moment, a feeling, a perspective. It's all grayscale, a study in contrasts. I imagine Stieglitz on a rooftop, probably squinting as he framed these buildings, these giants of steel and glass. He must have felt so small, so human against their scale. The way he uses light to sculpt the forms—it’s almost like he’s painting with the sun. You can see the influence of modernism. There's a reduction, an abstraction. It reminds me a bit of Sheeler's architectural paintings, but Stieglitz uses the camera like a brush. It’s incredible how artists find their voice through their medium, continuing a dialogue across time. He's capturing not just a place, but a mood, an era. Ambiguity and uncertainty are part of life. Just like in art, there is no fixed meaning!