Songs of the Sky B6 1923

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, Songs of the Sky B6, using a camera and photographic paper. This image, like a charcoal drawing, evokes the feeling of looking up into a sky full of heavy clouds, where light struggles to break through. Stieglitz coaxes a surprising range of grays from his materials, a testament to his masterful control over the medium. Look at how he captures the various textures of the clouds, from the soft, cottony wisps to the dense, almost solid forms. The contrast is key; it’s what gives the image its drama. Notice that patch of bright light pushing through the lower edge. It's almost like a moment of hope, a visual metaphor for resilience against the odds. Thinking about his series of cloud photographs, I'm reminded of Gerhard Richter's cloud paintings – both artists using clouds as a way to explore abstraction. Art is never created in a vacuum, it is a conversation across time and media.