Ida O'Keeffe 1924

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Ida O’Keeffe sometime in the early years of the twentieth century using a camera and his darkroom techniques. It’s a small, intimate portrait, capturing Ida in a moment of repose. What strikes me first is the texture, or rather, the suggestion of texture, that Stieglitz coaxes from the photographic paper. Look at how the light catches the fabric of the pillow beneath her head, or the soft gradations of tone in her skin. It’s a study in contrasts: the sharpness of her gaze versus the dreamy softness of the background. Her eyes draw you in; there’s a kind of intelligence there, a curiosity. Then there’s the hand, the finger resting thoughtfully on her lips. It’s a gesture that speaks volumes—contemplation, perhaps a hint of melancholy. This is the sister of Georgia, who herself was the subject of so many photographs by Stieglitz. I wonder what it was like to be in that family, in that artistic milieu? So many questions arise. Like all great art, this photograph invites us to look, to feel, and to imagine. It reminds me of the work of Julia Margaret Cameron, who was also interested in the soft tonalities of photography.