Review
Book Description
Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was a key figure in America's acceptance of photography as a serious form of artistic expression. As founder of the Photo Secession movement and editor of the influential Camera Work, he is one of the most important cultural forces in twentieth-century America. His work bridges the gap between the self-consciously aesthetic Pictorialist photography at the turn of the century, and the more precisely descriptive 'straight' photography of the 1920s and 1930s.
ALFRED STIEGLITZ by Graham Clarke, is an illustrated overview of the work of this legendary photographer. This beautiful and affordable monograph provides the perfect introduction to the work of a major force in the American modernist movement through a chronological sequence of 55 black and white images, including iconic images, such as The Steerage (1907), as well as lesser-known work. The accompanying text by Professor Clarke provides a fresh perspective on Stieglitz's life and work, placing him within the cultural context of his time and within the history of photography.
With a career straddling two centuries, Stieglitz's work bridges different photographic styles. He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, but studied in Germany, where he was first drawn to photography, and in the 1880s he traveled around Europe taking pictures. On his return to New York in 1889 he began exhibiting his own work and writing on photography. However, he soon came to reject retouching and other forms of manipulation. His work evolved progressively towards the ideal of 'pure' photography. He stated 'My aim is increasingly to make my photographs look so much like photographs that unless one has eyes and sees, they won't be seen - and still everyone will never forget having once looked at them.'
He was a major figure in the modernist movement in the New York of the 1900s and, through his galleries and publications, played a crucial part in the development of both American art and photography. Stieglitz promoted, published, and exhibited much of the best photography of the period in his role as editor of the now legendary magazine Camera Work, and through his galleries. He is also wrote extensively on photography throughout his career.
About the author
Graham Clarke is Professor of Photography and the Visual Arts at the University of Kent, Canterbury. He has written widely on photography and his publications include The Photograph: A Visual and Critical History, The Portrait in Photography, and Writing Photography: 1820-1920.
Photographer details
Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. He was instrumental over his fifty-year career in making photography an acceptable art form. Stieglitz was one of the most important American cultural figures of his day, and the evolution of his style illustrates a crucial development in the history of photography. As a photographer, editor, and gallery director, Stieglitz was a powerful influence on photography and on American art in general.
