Book of the Week #31

Stieglitz: A Beginning Light by Katherine Hoffman (Yale University Press, 2004)

"Stieglitz was American, born in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1864. His early work in both the United States and Europe formed a significant foundation for his later, more well-known work. During much of his career, Stieglitz fought tirelessly for the recognition of photography as a significant fine art, in his own work as a photographer, as a collector, as a gallery director, and as a writer and speaker about photography. In the May 1999 issue of ARTnews, Stieglitz was listed as one of the twentieth century's most influential artists.
This book is about the early work of Stieglitz, his first fifty-three years, from 1864-1917. ... This book is not a straight biography, nor a technical guide to photographic experiments of the last century. Rather it is an attempt to understand the early Stieglitz in the context of his times and to explore more fully his life and work as they were intertwined during those early years, both in the United States and in Europe." (Prologue, p. xi-xii)

Katherine Hoffman continues the story of Stieglitz's life and work in Stieglitz: A Legacy of Light. She will be at the Toadstool Bookshop, Peterborough on Saturday, August 6, 2011 at 11am to sign and discuss this latest work.