Alred Stieglitz was a key figure in 20th-century American art, playing a critical role in positioning photography as an expressive art form in its own right. He was a passionate champion of Modern art in America. He bcame allied with the avant-garde Photo Secession movement, a group of photographers that worked with painterly effects and soft focus. Stieglitz founded the journal Camera Work, published quarterly from 1903 to 1917, which featured original photographs by invited photographers.

Many of these works were printed as photogravures--etchings made by exposing a photographic negative to a copper plate coated with a photosensitive etching ground. Photogravures feature the richness of intaglio printing and the tonal range of photographs. In this photogravure, the blackness of the locomotive, the tracks against the white snow, and the billowing steam create a stunningly dramatic image that evokes heat and cold, design and power. The location of the view has been identified as photographed from the 48th Street bridge over the railroad yards in New York.

Source: News, October November December, 2008.