Alfred Stieglitz's Impact On Photography

Ansel Adams stated, “A great photograph is a full expression of what one feels about what is being photographed in the deepest sense and is, thereby, a true expression of what one feels about life in its entirety.” Have you ever wonder where photography first started? Have you ever wondered who made photography what it is today? What type of impact particular photographers had on photography? Alfred Stieglitz was a man who had big aspirations in his lifetime but did it so easily in with coming from a wealthy family. Alfred Stieglitz was one who changed modern photography and helped make it what it is today ("Alfred Stieglitz."). Alfred was a photographer, a gallerist, an impresario, and a publisher ("Alfred Stieglitz."). Who were Stieglitz

Stieglitz used form, line, and shadows to accomplish the same impact that paintings had on society (Ferebee). Whereas other photographers used other techniques to accomplish what was appealing to the human eye or society. His photos were of everyday life, clouds, airplanes, snowstorms, or to record that moment in time of history (Davis). One of his most famous works is “The Steerage,” along with many others such as (1903) Spring Showers, (1892) The Terminal, (1902) The Hand of Man, and (1893) Winter on Fifth Avenue (Lee). All of these images deal with some type of object or subject along with an element from nature. The elements from nature can be fog, clouds, rain, nightfall, and or snow. In the Spring Showers image, there is a tree with a water reflection and a man in the background that is visible softly (Lee). The Terminal image is an image that is softly focused along with being modern with the horse and buggy-drawn carriage. That particular image is simple yet shows a lot of emotions. In The Hand of Man photograph, the image shows a steam engine train with smoke coming out of the stack. The image is taken with another soft focus from the fog. Winter of Fifth Avenue is an image that is subtle yet simple with the complex lines from the snow leading your eyes around the image. The lines in the image also allow for your eyes to travel backwards and makes the image appear like it has depth. Stieglitz’s influence came from British photographer Peter Henry Emerson. Emerson believed that the camera should capture the true nature rather than alter the sense of what is true (Ferebee). Stieglitz’s impact on design was more of a photography impact. He proved that photography was an art form (Ferebee). His philosophy was “It has been done—the machine has plastically expressed life—a mechanically printed piece of paper breathes—it is a concrete