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Alfred Stieglitz
One
can’t
deny
the
impact
of
Alfred
Stieglitz
in
the
development
of
modern
American
art—not
only
due
to
his
own
photography,
but
also
his
work
as
an
art
dealer,
gallerist,
publisher,
and
promoter
of
other
artists.
The
rise
of
modern
photography
owes
a
great
debt
to
his
drive
and
determination:
Stieglitz
made
it
his
mission
to
cement
photography
as
an
artistic
medium.Stieglitz
was
born
in
Hoboken,
New
Jersey
in
1864,
but
grew
up
in
Germany.
He
purchased
his
first
camera
in
1882,
creating
images
of
the
countryside
and
researching
more
about
the
medium.
In
1890,
he
moved
back
to
America... Read More
and
settled
in
New
York
City.
He
solidified
his
position
in
the
still
small
world
of
photography
with
stints
working
for
The
American
Amateur
Photographer
and
launching
Camera
Work.Friend
and
fellow
photographer
Edward
Steichen
encouraged
Stieglitz
to
open
an
exhibition
space,
which
he
did,
calling
it
the
Little
Galleries
of
the
Photo-Secession.
It
was
the
first
gallery
to
hold
paintings
and
photographs
to
the
same
aesthetic
status.
The
gallery—later
known
as
291—exhibited
both
Stieglitz’s
work
and
the
art
of
American
and
European
modernists,
becoming
the
hot
spot
for
promoting
new
artists
and
exploring
philosophical
views
in
the
arts.
It
was
through
this
gallery
that
Stieglitz
met
his
muse,
the
American
painter
Georgia
O’Keeffe.
He
was
so
taken
with
her
work
that
he
displayed
it
in
Gallery
291
without
her
permission;
when
they
first
met,
it
was
so
she
could
chastise
him.
Their
relationship
began
shortly
after
and
informed
much
of
his
oeuvre.Though
photography
was
still
developing
as
an
artistic
medium
in
Stieglitz’s
working
years,
he
insisted
on
taking
it
to
its
limits.
By
the
1920s,
he
had
accomplished
much
of
what
was
said
to
be
impossible
with
photo-chemistry:
photographing
at
night,
in
low
light,
in
bad
weather,
and
in
color.
He
also
pushed
artistic
limits
by
creating
some
of
the
first
abstract
photographs,
making
a
series
of
nudes,
and
developing
the
idea
for
a
composite
portrait.
Stieglitz
felt
that
in
order
for
photography
to
be
recognized
as
an
art
form,
it
had
to
push
its
own
boundaries
beyond
technical
skill
into
the
realm
of
truly
impactful
visual
appeal.
Though
he
died
in
1946,
his
work
stands
the
test
of
time
and
continues
to
inform
modern
day
photography.
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