Georgia O'Keeffe c. 1924

Editor: This is a photograph titled "Georgia O'Keeffe" by Alfred Stieglitz, taken around 1924. It’s a black and white portrait, and O'Keeffe's gaze is really intense. What symbolic meanings do you find resonating within this work? Curator: Stieglitz’s portraits of O’Keeffe, particularly this one, operate on many symbolic levels. Black and white photography strips away the immediacy of color, forcing us to confront the underlying forms and emotional content. Here, the upward tilt of her face invites contemplation; light and shadow sculpt her features into an almost iconic landscape. Consider what upward gazing suggests in the symbolic language of portraits: aspiration, perhaps, or even defiance? What might it signify to you? Editor: Defiance, definitely! And I can also see a vulnerability, an exposure. But what is she defying? Or perhaps, transcending? Curator: That’s a perceptive reading. She seems to simultaneously guard and reveal something fundamental about herself. O'Keeffe cultivated an intensely personal visual vocabulary throughout her career, translating inner experiences to a range of biomorphic forms, so defiance may have been less overt, and transcendence more the objective. Is it possible the soft focus, combined with her determined gaze, also presents an invitation? Editor: An invitation… to truly see her, not just look at her. The subtleties are definitely there. The interplay between strength and fragility, ambition and introspection… Thank you. It's so rich and layered. Curator: Indeed. Remember, images have long memories. This portrait acts as a container for both Stieglitz's vision of O’Keeffe, and her own self-image, reflecting forward through time.