Curriculum Materials: Art in America
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Image 17 Alfred Stieglitz Questions: |
Alfred Stieglitz
Alfred Stieglitz revolutionized modern photography in the United States. He was a visionary photographer himself as well as a passionate advocate of photography as a fine art. Stieglitz organized exhibitions of modern American photography and published several journals of photographs and essays. In 1905 he opened his own gallery, later known as 291, in New York. There he exhibited avant-garde photographers as well as works by Europe's leading modern painters and sculptors. Cézanne, Matisse, Picasso, and others had their first major U.S. exhibits there. Stieglitz also showed work by many young American modernists, including Arthur Dove and Georgia O'Keeffe.
Always eager to expand his knowledge of the camera and
printing processes, Stieglitz experimented with many kinds
of photography. During the early 1900s, he was particularly
interested in making
STRAIGHT
PHOTOGRAPHS - those exposed and printed without special
techniques that would change their appearance. He wanted to
compose each photograph entirely before actually taking the
picture. He searched his surroundings for inherently
interesting images, especially in terms of shape
relationships, black-and-white contrasts, and emotional
impact.
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