Equivalents

Overview

“Equivalents” are artworks, often photographs, that mirror emotional or psychological states. The term was first used by Alfred Stieglitz in the 1920s, describing his cloud photographs as visual expressions of feeling rather than representations of the sky. For Stieglitz, these images were not ‘of’ clouds but ‘through’ clouds: emotional landscapes made visible. Later, Minor White expanded this concept, viewing photography as a tool for spiritual reflection. In both approaches, the subject matter is secondary. What matters is the internal resonance. The image becomes an emotional equivalent: abstract, symbolic, and deeply personal.

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