Poplar—Lake George 1936

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Poplar—Lake George, using gelatin silver. What is gelatin silver anyway, right? Looking at this, I'm thinking about the act of framing—both the photograph and the tree itself. Stieglitz has framed a tree that frames the landscape behind it. The branches reach up and over, making a kind of gestural cage. I wonder if Stieglitz saw something human in the tree’s form, like an arm reaching out. The tones are so soft and textured, like he’s trying to paint with light. He crops the tree tightly, and the tree looms large. You can feel him moving closer, observing all the details of the bark and the way the branches reach. Photography and painting have always been in dialogue, each medium pushing the other to explore different ways of seeing and representing the world. Stieglitz's image reminds us that artists are always in conversation, building on each other's visions.