Maria, Bellagio Possibly 1887 - 1934

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph of Maria in Bellagio using gelatin silver. There’s a certain starkness in the image, a realness, almost as if it was found rather than made. The eye is drawn to Maria herself, but the composition is so carefully considered, it's like a painting. I love the tonal range he coaxes out of the gelatin silver process, from the flat grey of the stone wall to the dark textures of the baskets. Look closely at the way the light falls on her face and the details of the basket at her side. The soft focus gives a dreamlike quality and adds to the intimacy of the portrait. I think that soft focus is what stops this image from being documentary, and makes it very definitely art. You might compare this to the work of someone like Julia Margaret Cameron, another photographer who was interested in capturing the emotional essence of her subjects through photography, rather than just a literal representation. It’s this kind of poetic truth that stays with you.