Alfred Stieglitz

American, 1864–1946

BiographyAlfred Stieglitz was the eldest child of highly cultured and prosperous parents. The family of eight spent winters in New York City and summered on the shores of Lake George in upper New York State, as did Stieglitz until his death in 1946. The family went abroad in 1881, where Alfred pursued advanced training in Germany, first as an engineer, and after 1883 as a photographer. By the time he returned to New York in 1890, the quality of his work and the originality of his technical research had earned him a considerable reputation and he soon became widely recognized as one of America's leading artists in photography. Through publications such as Camera Notes (1897-1900) and Camera Work (1903-17), and his active role in photography exhibitions, he played a pivotal role in introducing to Americans the idea that photography, far from just a means of providing a mechanical record, was an art form with its own aesthetic qualities and standards.

In the years before and during World War I, Stieglitz exhibited the work of many of Europe's leading avant-garde artists, as well as emerging American artists and photographers, at the Photo-Secession Gallery, 291. In a succession of galleries thereafter he supported such distinguished American artists as Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, Gaston Lachaise (1882-1935), and Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986).

The thought processes behind Stieglitz's ongoing crusade can be best understood by studying the successive issues of Camera Notes, which he edited for the Camera Club of New York, and the even more famous Camera Work, the organ of the so-called Photo-Secession society. Thanks to the wide circulation of these magazines in informed circles, America came to be recognized an an international leader in the field of photography.