Stieglitz Series > New York Views

New York Views

Beginning when he was a young man newly returned from studying in Germany and continuing until the last years of his life, Alfred Stieglitz photographed the city of New York. These images document the city’s transformation from a roughshod port to a sleek metropolis. As he wrote, “My New York is the New York of transition—The Old gradually passing into the New. . . . The Spirit of that something that endears New York to one who really loves it—not for its outer attractions—but for its deepest worth—& significance. —The universal thing in it.”[1]

 

Stieglitz’s early photographs capture everyday life on the sidewalks of the rapidly modernizing city. Instead of manipulating the prints or negatives, he let snow and rain—and often the steam and smoke of industry—create the soft, atmospheric effects valued by Pictorialists. In his 1897 photogravure portfolio, Picturesque Bits of New York and Other Studies, Stieglitz juxtaposed scenes from the city alongside those from Venice and Paris, placing New York in the pantheon of the world’s great scenic cities.

 

Later, Stieglitz would photograph the views from his windows at An American Place and the apartment he shared with Georgia O’Keeffe on the thirtieth floor of the Shelton Hotel. In these photographs the city is seen from a distance, captured in a modern, “straight” style. The bustling turn-of-the-century city life found in the earlier works—lively street scenes of laborers and the changing city—is replaced by the cool, industrial forms of Midtown’s steel-frame skyscrapers.

 

 

[1] Alfred Stieglitz to Hamilton Easter Field, Nov. 16, 1920, Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O’Keeffe Archive, Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, box 19, folder 429.

  • All
n
AIC_1949-703_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Hand of Man, 1902, printed 1920/39

n
aic_1949-689_t
Alfred Stieglitz

An Icy Night, New York, 1898

n
AIC_1949-704_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Outward Bound, The Mauretania, 1910, printed 1918/32

n
AIC_1949-706_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Terminal, 1893, printed 1920/39

n
AIC_1949-707_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Flatiron, 1903, printed 1920/39

n
AIC_1949-708_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From Room “3003” – The Shelton, New York, Looking Northeast, 1927

n
AIC_1949-709_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From the Back-Window “291” Snow-Covered Tree, Back-Yard, 1915

n
AIC_1949-710_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From the Back-Window “291”, 1915

n
aic_1949-782_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-783_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-784_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at the Shelton, West, 1931

n
aic_1949-785_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, Southwest, 1932

n
aic_1949-786_t
Alfred Stieglitz

New York from the Shelton, 1935

n
aic_1949-787_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1930/31

n
aic_1949-788_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1931

n
aic_1949-789_t
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, North, 1931

n
AIC_1949-790_T
Alfred Stieglitz

From My Window at An American Place, Southwest, 1932

n
Alfred Stieglitz

The City of Ambitions, 1910

n
AIC_1949-838_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Flatiron, 1903

n
AIC_1949-839_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Street, Fifth Avenue, 1900/01

n
AIC_1949-843_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Outward Bound, The Mauretania, 1910

n
AIC_1949-844_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Two Towers, New York, 1911

n
AIC_1949-845_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Old and New New York, 1910

n
AIC_1949-848_T
Alfred Stieglitz

The Terminal, 1893

n
AIC_1949-849_T
Alfred Stieglitz

Spring Showers, 1900/01

n
n
n
n