Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and promoter of modern art who was essential over his fifty-year career in making photography an accepted art form. 


"A vital force in the development of modern art in America, Alfred Stieglitz's significance lies as much in his work as an art dealer, exhibition organizer, publisher and editor, as in does in his career as a photographer. He is credited with spear-heading the rise of Pictorial Photography in America, in the early years of the 20th century, publishing the periodical Camera Work (1903-1917) and forming the exhibition society, the Photo-Secession. He also ran a series of influential galleries, starting with 291, which he used not only to exhibit photography but also to introduce European modernist painters and sculptors to America, and to foster America's own modernist figures - including his later wife, Georgia O'Keeffe. Insistent that photography warranted a place among the fine arts, Stieglitz's own work showed great technical mastery of tone and texture, and reveled in exploring atmospherics. In later years, influenced in part by Cubism and other trends, he became interested in Straight Photography, favoring more clarity and less lush effects. " (The art history.com)