Eva Herrmann 1926

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Eva Herrmann using gelatin silver sometime in the early twentieth century. Look at how the light catches the feathery fronds of her hat, creating these beautiful halations around her face. The image has this wonderful grainy texture; you can see the way the light bounces off her features and the soft blanket draped over her shoulder. It gives the photograph a tactile quality, like you could reach out and feel the fuzziness of the image. The way the light filters through the fronds of her hat almost anticipates the Impressionists' play with light. Consider the formal portraits of the time, and you realize that Stieglitz was doing something quite radical here, allowing a kind of ambiguity and chance into his process. It reminds me of Man Ray, who was also experimenting with photography around the same time, pushing the boundaries of what it could do. Art is always in conversation with itself, isn't it? Each artist building on the ideas of those who came before, and hopefully, leading to new ways of seeing.