Georgia O'Keeffe 1933

This is a photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe, made by Alfred Stieglitz using gelatin silver print. The tones are just, so balanced. The black, solid car interior. It's the soft, grey tones that make it interesting: the shades under her eyes, in her hair, the subtle gradient of the background. You can tell Stieglitz knew what he was doing, building up these mid-tones that give the image such depth. Look at the way O’Keeffe’s hand rests on the car door. You can see every line, every wrinkle, every imperfection. And it gives the image an incredible sense of intimacy. It's this that makes you feel like you're really seeing her, not just looking at a picture of her. Edward Steichen had a similar ability to create these psychological portraits of artists – which makes sense. It takes an artist to really see another artist, to capture their essence on film, or canvas.