Spring Showers, c. 1900–1901
Vintage photogravure
Published in Camera Work Nº. 36
Image size: 9 × 3 ¾ in.
November 3, 2025
Alfred Stieglitz cropped this image so that it snugly contains the entirety of the spindly tree, sprouting form a Manhattan sidewalk, as well as its reflection on the rain soaked pavement, making it the main character in this scene. A supporting role is played by the hunched figure on the left who, like the rightward slanting tree, seems a little beaten down by their experience in the city. The vertical format reinforces the spring downpour, which reduces the traffic, and what appears to be Fifth Avenue near Madison Square Park, to a muddle of hazy apparitions.
This photogravure appeared in Camera Work, Stieglitz's quarterly photography journal which, like Stieglitz himself, is inextricable from the story of photography's emergence as an art form. Stieglitz ran Camera Work independently, and was thus able to adhere to the highest possible standards—printing the photogravures from original negatives and personally tipping in each print. This attention to detail yielded handsome prints like this one, although it also meant that the issues weren't always delivered to subscribers in a timely fashion.
