The Maple Tree c. 1926

Alfred Stieglitz made this gelatin silver print, titled 'The Maple Tree', sometime in his life (he lived 1864-1946). It's a black and white image, and I can imagine him there with his camera and tripod, maybe lugging heavy equipment up a small hill to get the right shot. I can see the sharp focus on the foreground of the tree, then this wonderful soft-focus of the mountains in the distance, which gives the whole image a sense of depth and atmosphere. It must have taken a lot of skill and patience to capture it all in a single frame. Stieglitz was interested in photography as a fine art, and how it could be as expressive as painting. He was part of a Photo-Secession movement who wanted to explore all the creative possibilities of photography. I love how it captures a particular moment in time. Stieglitz and his peers helped shift the way photography was seen, and in turn, influenced the way painting was understood. It’s a beautiful thing, this exchange of ideas across time, inspiring and challenging each other’s creativity.