Customer Reviews

Alfred Stieglitz: The Key Set - Volume I & II: The Alfred Stieglitz Collection of Photographs

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a major contribution to the field of artistic photography and art history, and frankly, I am not sure what the previous reviewer was looking at or for when giving this award-winning set one out of five stars (it was rated "outstanding art publication of the year" by the Art Libraries Society of North America in 2002).

Greenough's 2-volume set is a standout in numerous ways. For starters, it is the first retrospective work that has attempted to establish some kind of chronological order to Stieglitz's photographs (many of his major works were never dated previously). Why is this important? Stieglitz was extremely influential not only as an artist but as a technician, introducing new photo cropping and printing methods at a time when photography was just starting out as a field of study. Without dates for his photographs, it had previously been impossible to determine for certain whether Stieglitz was employing (or improving upon) techniques that were already out there, or if he was forging ahead into unknown territory.

The scholarship undertaken here is impressive: in addition to the dating of all the material, Greenough provides copious notes about the images, including invaluable information about the reproduction process. There is a detalied appendix, bibliography, index, and concordances, as well as information of other Stieglitz photographs in other collections.

Apart from the scholarship, however, what makes this set standout is the quality and quantity of the images. There are over 1600 photographs in this set, and only about a third of them had ever been reproduced before. Many of the images here are print variants that Stieglitz produced from the same negative, showing how he experimented with printing (using carbon, platinum, gelatin silver, and palladium among other materials) as well as cropping/orientating/mounting of his prints. These images give us a more complete picture Stieglitz's thought processes in terms of his art, his experimental nature, and the methods he employed in presenting his vision to the world.

As a serious amateur photographer and lover of historical photographs, I waited anxiously for the (Christmas gift) set to arrive - only to be disappointed. Many images are only 3 or 4 inches on the long side. There is also much wasted blank space on many pages. Would it have cost that much more in ink to make the images large enough to appreciate?? And Volume II has more images of clouds than a meteorology book - perhaps 25 percent or so of the total. I would really recommend finding someone who has a copy of the set and make sure it's really what you want before ordering. I received much more pleasure from the images in the "Camera Work: the Complete Photographs" book Amazon sells for $10. If you like Stiegitz and the pictorialists, then "Camera Work" is a must-have.

An important contribution to the history of photography, this book is a monumental task in cataloging and comparing Stieglitz's opus. At 1000 pages (including index, bibliography etc), it is massive, but so is the quality of the binding, the printing, the paper. A pleasure to hold in your hand (if you can lift it!).
Regarding the content, it really is an almost complete history of Stieglitz's photography including the mundane and experimental photography (endless pictures of clouds). What I find interesting are the subtle variations in photos as well as prints of the same picture for a different effect. If you are a student, I hope you can afford it. If you are a scholar and a historian, all of photography's early greats are there, and if you are a lover a photographer like me then you really will enjoy the whole experience. These books are as much reference as "coffee book", so they will keep on giving you for many years to come.

It's not possible for me to adequately review this wonderful collection.
I'll leave that to those who have a more creative use of language.
I am so happy that I now own this set; if it were possible, I would envy myself!

My sister is a photographer and this book a joint present among sisters. We all had to peek at the nearly 1700 photographs in this 20 pound book (two volumes) before we gave it to her!

Stieglitz is one of the most instrumental photographers of the late 19th and early 20th century. This compilation of his work is exquisite. The contrasting images, the use of light to make a point--even to a novice his genius stands out.

His photographs of New York City, Europe, and of his muse and second wife Georgia O'Keefe are truly masterpieces.

How insane is our world where a guy gets paid millions for throwing a ball, but a stunningly magnificent book set like this gets sold off at half price?
I am thrilled at the opportunity to buy this set at such a bargain price. It is a work of art in and of itself.
If you are a serious photographer or photography collector you have no excuse not to own this set. However you imagine it might be... it is better!

This collection is a "must have" for anyone with an interest in Stieglitz. These massive books are beautifully printed and bound and enclosed in a bound case. The printing is excellent. This is a book for serious students of Stieglitz and of the processes that he employed to make his photographs. Anyone with an interest in alternate photographic techniques will appreciate the opportunity to view the same photographs printed via photogravure vs. platinum vs silver gelatin vs carbon. This boxed set is not your normal glossy-pretty-picture book (even though some of the photographs are enormously beautiful) but a compendium of the work done by a great master of Photography.

Besides the fact this weighed more than my mom(a joke) I considered it
a great review of Steiglitz's work .Yes a number of pictures are not poster size but you still get the feel of the age, the man, and my favorite artist Georgia O Keeffe at a turning point in her life, I would highly recommend it.

My first review - I just couldn't let this go by without comment. There are lots of books by and about Stieglitz, and you can look through fine reproductions of Camera Works and watch the DVD. But you won't get a real feel for his photographic work until you spend some time with this beautiful 2 volume set. The hundreds of images, thoughtfully grouped, with quotes and background details, will open your eyes to the scope of his photography, and the amazing blend of subtlety, sensitivity and fun it conveys. And of course the image quality is sumptuous.

For this collection O'Keefe chose the best print of every mounted photo in Steiglitz's collection at the time of his death. I just flip through ten or twelve pages a night. As another reviewer said, they are small. But I just get close and enjoy. This is an unparalleled opportunity to fathom the mind of a master. If you want Steiglitz to be your teacher this is the way.