Alfred Stieglitz by Matt Howard

Alfred Stieglitz as an American photographer. In his lifetime he did a lot to promote modern art promoter and was instrumental in making photography an accepted art form. In 1907 Stieglitz worked on a series of photographs with two models. He took photographs of the models both dressed and nude. He used these photos to practice different unusual techniques. He practiced toning, waxing and drawing on platinum prints. These photos are some of the most unusual and distinctive of his whole career.

 

One of his most famous images is The Steerage. This photograph was taken in 1907, and has been called one of the best photographs of all time because shows the industrial world of his time, and also represents the artistic modernism movement. The shot shows a group of lower class men and women on a steamer going from New York to Germany. It’s a great depiction of life in 1915. 
 

The thing that makes this photo so great is the fact that it is people being themselves but they are in an unusual location or situation. This relates to my work because I’m photographing performers not only on the stage putting on their show, but also in their dressing rooms when they are just being themselves. It’s strange to see these people outside of their normal context. That’s what makes the images so exciting. 

Photograph and information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Stieglitz