Georgia O'Keeffe 1919 - 1921

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, “Georgia O’Keeffe,” with his camera, and I imagine it was in a darkroom somewhere, sometime. Look at O’Keeffe's face: the soft planes of her cheeks, her steady gaze, and her unsmiling lips. It’s like Stieglitz is trying to catch something in her eyes, some kind of truth. The lighting is everything in a photograph like this, and here it gives her face a kind of depth, and the shadows play across her skin, making her feel almost sculptural. You can almost feel Stieglitz’s presence behind the camera, his careful attention to detail, his desire to capture something essential about O’Keeffe, who was of course an artist herself. You can tell they are in deep conversation, an exchange of ideas across time. And like all artists, he’s inspired by those who came before, and, in turn, inspiring all those who come after.