Georgia O'Keeffe 1931

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Georgia O'Keeffe, his wife, at an unknown date, using gelatin silver print. What immediately grabs me is how Stieglitz used light and shadow to sculpt both O'Keeffe's face and the stark form of the skull she holds. It's as if he's not just documenting her, but also revealing something essential about her spirit. There's a powerful tension in the image, a contrast between the softness of O'Keeffe's skin and the hard, bony texture of the skull. The light catches the ridges and hollows of the skull, emphasizing its starkness, while also casting delicate shadows on O'Keeffe's face, softening her features. Look at the way her hands gently cradle the skull, it suggests a deep connection, a kind of reverence for the natural world and its cycles of life and death. Stieglitz was deeply influenced by photography as a medium for capturing the essence of his subject, much like how someone like Edward Weston approached photography. It’s a conversation about form, light, and the very nature of seeing. And like all great art, it leaves you with more questions than answers.