[Women from Pustertal]

As three women made their way across a sun-dappled meadow, Heinrich Kühn made this image from above and behind, combining a modernist's bird's-eye viewpoint with a Pictorialist visual sense. The bromoil transfer process transformed the print into a grainy, atmospheric image reminiscent of a drawing. The anonymous, faceless figures are reduced to masses of light and dark that seem to float across the composition.

"The greatest achievement of the photographer is to aim at great pictorial effect without adulteration. The photographer may not paint," Kühn wrote to Alfred Stieglitz. In this image he adhered to his own admonition, successfully combining perspective and printing technique to render this pastoral scene.