"The Flatiron" Edward Steichen (1904)
I love photography, especially early examples. Is there
anything more beautiful than a gelatin silver print? So a few weeks ago I
headed to the Met to view the exhibit “Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand.” Featuring
115 images from the Met’s collection, the exhibit proved why these three were
pioneers in the field of American photography at the turn of the century.
Alfred Stieglitz, Edward Steichen, and Paul Strand helped to
further the cause of American photography, creating new camera techniques and elevating photography to an art form. Stieglitz, considered the father of
modern photography, founded the influential journal Camera Work in 1903 and both Steichen and Strand’s works were
featured heavily in its pages.
Of the three, I
was most familiar with Stieglitz. I had just seen many of his New York photos a
few months before so was keen to see examples of another of his favourite
subjects—his wife Georgia O’Keefe. Stieglitz liked to photographer her, a lot
(he made more than 300 portraits). Many of the photos are of her parts—face, breasts, feet. He
especially liked to photograph her hands, which were, upon inspection, quite
beautiful.
The work of two of Stieglitz’ protégées round out the
exhibit. Strand wanted to capture the movement of the city (he would later go on to work in documentary film) and everyday people. He would often attach a trick lens to his camera in order to get his shots without the subjects looking at the camera. His work exemplifies early street
photography, and its immediacy gives many of his photos a modern look.
But it was Edward Steichen whose work I enjoyed the most. Steichen had partnered with Stieglitz
to open the Little Galleries of the Photo-Secession (later known as 291), which
brought European artists’ work to the attention of Americans. Steichen, who had started out painting,
applied his painter’s eye to the lens and many of his photographs have a
dream-like quality to them. Probably his most famous photo in the exhibit is of
the iconic Flatiron building. Many have photographed the building, including
Stieglitz, but Steichen’s photo stands out. Appearing at first to be a
painting, the blurriness of the light and silhouetted figure adds a romantic
air to the photo (and brings to mind the setting for a Victorian mystery).
The exhibit is only at the Met for a few more days (until April 10). If you can’t make
it, there is a wonderful exhibition catalogue that contains reproductions of
many of the photographs.
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