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The SteerageThe Steerage © RMN-Grand Palais/Art Resource, NY © Georgia O’Keefe Museum/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York

The Steerage

Alfred Stieglitz. 1907 C.E. Photogravure.

Curator Note

"A modernist photograph emphasizing pure form. Stieglitz, on a first-class deck, looked down at the steerage (lower class) passengers. He wasn't interested in the social plight of immigrants, but in the visual relationship of shapes: the round straw hat, the crossed suspenders, the drawbridge, and the funnel. It marks the shift to "Straight Photography.""

Form

  • Sharp focus, high contrast (Straight Photography).
  • Complex composition of geometric shapes (circles, diagonals).
  • Division of space: Upper class (top) vs Lower class (bottom).
  • Monochrome photogravure.
  • Candid snapshot aesthetic.

Function

  • To elevate photography to the status of modern art.
  • To focus on formal composition rather than narrative.
  • To capture the "truth" of the medium.
  • To document the migration experience (unintentionally).
  • To create a visual "collage".

Content

  • Steerage passengers: immigrants returning to Europe (refused entry?).
  • Straw hat: the visual anchor.
  • Iron machinery: symbol of modernity.
  • The gangplank: divides the classes.
  • Humanity as shape and texture.

Context

  • Stieglitz ran the 291 Gallery, introducing modern art to America.
  • He was married to Georgia O'Keeffe.
  • Rejected Pictorialism (soft-focus, painting-like photos).
  • Taken on a voyage to Europe.
  • Picasso praised it for its Cubist-like construction.