Glass Abstraction

After achieving recognition as a Pictorialist photographer in the 1910s, and later absorbing the modernist ideas of Alfred Stieglitz and his circle, W. Grancel Fitz turned to commercial photography. He lent his sophisticated style and technical mastery to work for various corporate clients including Libby-Owens glass, for which he produced this photograph. Solving the difficult problem of photographing a mundane and nearly invisible product, Fitz worked with the material’s dual qualities of reflection and transparency to create a dynamic and visually enticing image.