Alfred Stieglitz

Alfred Stieglitz was born in 1864 and died in 1946. He lived and worked primarily in New York and was married to the painter Georgia O'Keefe. In 1896 he joined the New York Camera Club and the Society of Amateur Photographers in New York to create the Camera Club of New York. The Camera Club of New York is only one of many efforts Stieglitz took to make photography a commonly accepted. Stieglitz's contribution to the world of photography was not just shooting beautiful and inspirational images but also convincing the art world of New York that photography is a legitimate art form. In terms of his own artwork, Stieglitz subject matter mostly consisted of portraiture of the important people in his life as well as many city-scapes, including his first print to win an award The Last Joke, Bellagio. Many of his photographs seemed to be heavily influenced by impressionist painters. To many of those in the photography world, Stieglitz is known as the "godfather of modern photography" not only because of the contribution of his own art, but also because of his work to have photography an accepted art form in art world.

In many of the city-scapes that I see, it is just an image of the interesting architecture in the area or an interesting yet seemingly random street scene. What I love about this image is that it seems to catch the essence and the personality of a rainy New York day.