Alfred Stieglitz: Pioneer of Art Photography
He played a major role in the Modernist movement
Alfred Stieglitz has been called the father of modern photography in that he was the first photographer to regard what he did as an art form as opposed to merely a method of documentation. He also played a major role in defining and shaping modernism in the United States, and in championing the work of artists in other fields besides his own.
He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, on 1st January 1864, the son of a wool merchant. As a child he showed an early interest in photography, but it was only after he was sent to Europe in 1881 to complete his education that he was able to study the subject. The Berlin Polytechnic offered a course in photochemistry, and Stieglitz quickly dropped his study of mechanical engineering to concentrate on this new discipline.
He travelled widely in Europe and entered photographic competitions, many of which he won by impressing the judges with the spontaneity of his work. Already at this young age he was doing something different with the medium and making waves.
On returning to the States in 1890 he began to experiment with this new art form, and faced the technical challenges of taking photographs at night and in snow and rain. He worked for a time in photo-engraving with the…
