Lake George 1922

Alfred Stieglitz captured this gelatin silver print, 'Lake George', sometime in the early 20th century, and I can almost feel him standing there with his camera, waiting for the perfect moment to capture the sky. It's got that swirling, stormy sky looming over the landscape. Dark and brooding, but with a sense of movement and energy, like the clouds are dancing. I imagine Stieglitz, with his intense gaze, framing this shot, maybe thinking about how to translate what he sees into something tangible, something that captures the essence of the place. There's a strong sense of light and dark, a sort of chiaroscuro effect, that adds to the drama. It reminds me a little of some of the old masters, like Rembrandt, with their dramatic use of light. But Stieglitz is doing it with photography, pushing the boundaries of what the medium can do. He was totally trying to make photography a fine art, like painting, and this picture shows he was right to do so. Artists are always borrowing from each other and pushing things further – that’s the beauty of it.