The Steerage

Alfred Stieglitz, renowned for his introduction of modern European art to this country, also led the crusade in America to gain recognition for photography as an art form alongside painting and sculpture. His own photographs span more than five decades, from the 1880s through the 1930s. This work, from 1907, is his most well-known image. Here, Stieglitz uses the dramatic angle of the plank that cuts through the center of the image to emphasize the physical and psychological distance between the poor passengers below in the steerage and the wealthier class above on deck.