The Candid Camera

From an early date, Georgia O’Keeffe’s reputation as an artist was tied to her image; a public persona that would be crafted principally through photography. Central to this was her relationship, beginning in 1917, with Alfred Stieglitz, who would photograph O’Keeffe more than three hundred times over the course of twenty years.  Indeed, O’Keeffe’s self-presentation-her taste for starkly contrasting black-and-white clothes and ease in front of the camera-can be ascribed in part to her experience as Alfred Stieglitz’s model. But Stieglitz, who married O’Keeffe in 1924, was not the only photographer who made her a frequent subject. As O’Keeffe began spending more time out west, she was joined at home and in her travels by photographer friends, including Ansel Adams and Todd Webb. This selection of photographs from the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum’s collection capture their subject in more candid moments, in contrast to the familiar and clearly posed character of so many images of the artist.

The Candid Camera Exhibition is on view November 2, 2018 – June 2, 2019. (Exhibit extended).