"Katherine Hoffman presents a comprehensive and provocative study of the life and work of the photographer, Alfred Stieglitz, focusing on the period from 1915 to his death in 1946, with some introductory material related to his early years. His work as photographer, editor, writer, and gallery director are explored in relationship to his personal biography and cultural milieu, presenting the complex tapestry that was Stieglitz's life and work. This book focuses on the American work, issues of identity, and the rise of Modernism in America. There is discussion of some of his photographs that are rarely illustrated or discussed, that give added dimension to an understanding of Stieglitz's total oeuvre. The newly opened letters along with the many other letters Stieglitz wrote, reveal him to be a man of "letters", as well as a man with a camera. His work as editor and writer of short articles, along with his letters illustrate a strong literary side of Stieglitz discussed in the book, that balanced his visual work. Stieglitz's life and work may be seen as a significant continuum that progressed from his early European work to his final photographic images taken at Lake George, and in New York City. Stieglitz was a complicated and complex man, revered and idolized by a community of loyal followers, and at the same time despised and hated by some. As the critic Robert Hughes, has written of StieglitzBeyond the personality and the myths that have grown up around Stieglitz, some self-made, some through the power of the press, it is in the end, " the work," that is perhaps most important and enduring, It is that work, along with its fundamental ideas and inspirations, that is the focus of this book, illustrating that Stieglitz has, indeed, left a lasting legacy of light"-- Provided by publisher.
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