A Venetian Well Possibly 1894 - 1934

Alfred Stieglitz made this photograph, *A Venetian Well*, with gelatin silver. It’s full of soft, hazy grays that almost feel like they could smudge if you touched them, like charcoal. I love the way the light catches the chipped stone of the well, and the water being poured into the buckets. There is a kind of quiet in this image, a feeling of stillness, but also an acknowledgement of everyday activity. It reminds me of James McNeill Whistler, especially his etchings of Venice. Both artists capture a sense of place and atmosphere, but they also seem interested in the formal qualities of their chosen media. For Whistler, it was the line and tone of etching, for Stieglitz, it was the subtle gradations of light and shadow. And like a painting, this photograph is not just a record of a scene, it’s an interpretation. It's about how we see and feel the world around us, and how those experiences are shaped by the artist's hand.