Stieglitz on Style

Key West 2009, by Robert Castagna

Alfred Stieglitz is well known as the father of art photography.  His marriage and art-partnership with Georgia O'Keefe only helps in solidifying his legacy.  His prints are masterful renditions of black and white and many have become iconic.  Boston's Museum of Fine Arts has several of his prints which they periodically put on view and have available in their print room. 

Here's an important point: whenever you encounter an artist or muse that inspires creativity, such as Stieglitz, it is always appropriate to search for and find his or her original words on the subject.  To do so is to find inspiration and valuable key information.  I stress this because you will always find hundreds of biographies and scholarly studies but none of them compare to the original words expressed by the artist.  Autobiographies, journals, letters and articles are simply the best.

  

For this reason some years ago I acquired a book entitled "Stieglitz on Photography, His Selected Essay and Notes" compiled and annotated by Richard Whelan and published by Aperture.  The book is full of essays and articles penned by Stieglitz. 

There is one article entitled "Simplicity in Composition" which is a gem.  I have read it over and over throughout the years and continue to draw vital data from it.  My most recent reading a couple days ago left me again in awe.  I wondered how I could have missed so many points before!

The most powerful words come about in his description of how to acquire "style".

"...study the best pictures in all media - from painting to photography - and study them again and again,  analyze them,  steep yourself in them until they unconsciously become part of your esthetic being.  Then, if there be any trace of originality within you, you will intuitively adapt what you have thus made a part of yourself, and tinctured by your personality you will evolve that which is called style."

One of the key words in the above passage is "tinctured".  The word means to imbue something with a quality and comes from the idea of tinting fabric with color by dyeing.   Lastly, he ends the article by restating the above:

"Observe the work of recognized artists - I do not mean look at it, but observe it - make it your own.  Then study the appearance of nature more closely than ever before everywhere.  And there is also one simple and direct warning I would like to give: Avoid books on composition as you would the plague, lest they destroy in your mind all other considerations than the formulae which they lay down.  If you must be taught by others, not being able to teach yourself, seek out a broad-minded teacher, but guard your originality as the one precious possession which may save you from turning out machine-made work." 

As one can see the first step is to truly look at accomplished art work.  Go to museum exhibitions, galleries and take out books from the library by the armful.  Then create your own art and study nature and life.  Do this as a constant activity and everywhere.  Learn to be a self-learner, an autodidact.  An artist is a beingness and way of life.  And finally seek and expose that spark of originality and style that develops within your own creativity.