Georgia O'Keeffe 1919 - 1921

Alfred Stieglitz created this gelatin silver print of Georgia O’Keeffe, his lover and muse. I'm thinking about Stieglitz and his camera, and how he coaxes this image of O’Keeffe into being. He’s trying to capture something essential about her, but what does that even mean? Photography can be so seductive, promising a kind of truth, a direct record of what’s in front of the lens. But of course, it’s always mediated, always interpreted. O’Keeffe stares back, unflinching. I wonder what it was like to sit for Stieglitz, to be the object of his gaze, his artistic desire. Did she feel seen, understood? Or was it a kind of negotiation, a dance between two artists, each with their own agenda? The tones feel rich and subtle, almost sculptural. It's like he's trying to carve her image out of light and shadow. You can feel the weight of history in this image, the complex relationship between artist and muse, between seeing and being seen. It’s just like painting, really—an exchange, an encounter.