Stieglitz, Alfred

Stieglitz, Alfred (1864-1946), American photographer, editor, and art gallery director, who urged the recognition of photography as an art. He was born in Hoboken, New Jersey, and was educated at the College of the City of New York and at the University of Berlin. He settled in New York and from 1890 to 1893 worked as a photoengraver. He edited the periodical American Amateur Photographer; in 1897 he founded the periodical Camera Notes; and in 1903 he became editor and publisher of Camera Work. Subsequently Stieglitz and the photographer Edward Steichen founded and directed the Photo-Secession, a national organization of photographers that promoted pictorial photography. Through exhibitions at Gallery 291 in New York, which they had established to promote their work, Stieglitz was instrumental in creating public acceptance of contemporary developments in art and photography.

Among the well-known American painters first sponsored by Stieglitz were Georgia O'Keeffe, whom he married in 1924, Marsden Hartley, and John Marin. In 1925 he established and served as the director of the Intimate Gallery (from 1929, An American Place). He was world-famous for his photographs, particularly highly individualized portraits. He contributed numerous articles on photography to technical and art periodicals.