Mrs. Stieffel 1921

This photograph, ‘Mrs. Stieffel,’ was captured by Alfred Stieglitz. You could say the approach to mark-making here is all about tonal range. Look at the way Stieglitz coaxes out a huge range of browns and sepias from his photographic process, and how those colours describe the light. The lace collar around her neck is remarkable, isn’t it? The way the light seems to glow from within the fabric. It's like he’s painting with light. There’s something so tender about how he captures Mrs. Stieffel's gaze; it’s not a hard stare but a soft knowing. Stieglitz finds something quietly revolutionary by focusing on the everyday. There’s an artist I admire, Thomas Eakins, who worked in a similar vein, trying to paint real people in a real way, rather than idealizing them. All these artists were involved in an ongoing conversation about how to truly see.