Alfred Stieglitz
The Steerage
1907
At the very left of the photo, there's an attractive, confident, young woman standing very close to what looks like her mother - probably both are searching for a new life, for a new land, maybe moving to America. The girl has nothing, but is confident - the mother droops all her shoulders on her daughter. What's the girl going to do? And an attractive, poor girl? I doubt she's educated much. America? Will she become just a prostitute, finally? Or, is she clever, resourceful? Even in shame, she finds her way up? Or is this photo the only brush of awareness of her existence that the world can have?
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1 comment:
do you think that maybe she is carrying a child in a frilly white cap not her mother leaning on her? the woman on the left, i mean? i could be wrong-but if it is a child then her story could be so much the happier and so much the crueler-is she traveling to her husband/lover-they must love each other so much, and are willing to work, even work hard, but at the very least work hard together. or is she leaving some disgrace-not knowing she would meet the same no matter which land-and everyone on the ship secretly scorns her-women can inexplicably be the cruelest to each other.
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