Portrait of Georgia, No. 1 1923

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Portrait of Georgia, No. 1, using a camera, and photographic paper, sometime in the early 20th century. It's all about light, not color. Stieglitz plays with the subtle shades to describe Georgia O'Keefe's face and the weight of her clothing. Look at the dark areas around the brim of her hat and heavy coat, notice how they create a frame for the pale skin of her face, drawing the eye upward. It makes me think of the way a painter builds up layers of transparent glaze to make a form emerge. It's a great portrait in a series of portraits. There is a dialogue that emerges between the two artists, Stieglitz and O'Keefe. He repeats the act of photographing her throughout their time together, and she paints similar subjects over and over. You realize art is not about making something once but returning to the same things repeatedly, until the conversation is done.