The Steerage
1907
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
1907
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
You see a black-and-white photograph of passengers on a ship: some in fancy hats on the upper deck, others in plain clothes below, leaning on railings. Stieglitz took this picture by accident—he was on a first-class deck and noticed the shapes and lines of the people below. He later said it changed how he saw photography, pushing him toward sharper, more abstract images. The photo wasn’t about pity or politics; it was about patterns and light. If you like how this turns a simple scene into something bold, look up chiaroscuro.
