Georgia O'Keeffe—Torso 1918 - 1919

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Georgia O’Keeffe’s torso with a camera, and the image is printed on paper. Looking at this, I’m thinking about what it’s like to make something – to compose, to frame, and to bring a particular vision into focus. Stieglitz zooms in, almost like a painter might isolate a detail. The close cropping transforms the body into a landscape. It’s interesting, because in some ways, photography seems so immediate, so captured, yet here, there’s a real feeling of intentionality, a selection of light and shadow that sculpts the form. You can see the texture of the skin, almost touch it, and that's not just about capturing reality – it’s about seeing, feeling, and making a statement about beauty, intimacy, and how we perceive each other. Stieglitz and O’Keeffe were in dialogue with each other, informing each other’s creative journeys. It makes me consider how we all build on each other’s work, borrowing, reinterpreting, and pushing forward the boundaries of how we see and express the world.