DAY 213

FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHERS

Alfred Stieglitz (1864–1946)

FINE PHOTOGRAPHY IS NOT AN OXYMORON

At a time of one of the most radical transformations of American culture, Alfred Stieglitz drove the simultaneous transformation of modern art and culture. Photographer, writer, and visionary, he was the driving force that broke down traditional boundaries between photography and other fine art forms.

His own photography work was the first to be recognized by American museums when the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, purchased from his collection. However, he is more known for exerting his wide influence on photographers, writers, and artists. Many sought to be included among the pages of his publishing ventures, Camera Notes and Camera Work, or displayed on the walls of his art galleries, including 291 (known by its Fifth Avenue address), all vehicles used to exhibit cutting-edge modern art of the time.

Stieglitz and his second wife, Georgia O’Keefe were one of the most dynamic artistic partnerships in American history. Stieglitz first became captivated by her work, which he exhibited immediately in his gallery, and then later by the artist herself, whom he photographed obsessively over time, creating an intimate study of her that remains one the most thorough of its kind.

Stieglitz often worked himself to the point of collapse, and in 1938, he suffered the first of six serious heart attacks. However, each time he healed, he picked up exactly where he left off, in his relentless pursuit of shaping the new American vision of modern art and culture. —GC