Alfred Stieglitz spent most of his life fighting for the recognition of photography as a valid art form. In 1923, he was asked if he would give the Museum of Fine Arts some of his photographs. This was significant because it was the first time that a major American Art Museum included photographs or even considered them for display. In 1924, Stieglitz sent 27 photographs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


He was the first photographer to reach this achievement in America. He became standard that all photography was compared to in the United States. In 1883, at the age of 19, he took his first pictures while attending a school in Berlin. He experimented with new techniques and pushed the limits that were the standard at that time. He was told that a camera could only be used in the daytime. He decided to challenge that theory and set up his camera in a small cellar. His greatest photographic discoveries were that it was possible to make unlimited depth of field photo's through time exposures. And he proved that pictures could be taken in rain or snow conditions.