I’ve just finished reading Phyllis Rose’s excellent new biography of my great uncle Alfred Stieglitz, the renowned photographer and champion of European impressionist artists at the turn of the last century. Unlike the definitive biography by my cousin Sue Davidson Lowe, Rose’s story isn’t exhaustive but it offers greater context to Stieglitz’s life, winding him into the cultures and countercultures of the eras he lived through. I have always been ambivalent about Stieglitz, perhaps because of his propensity to render such harsh judgments about his peers. Perhaps his greatest contribution to the art world may be less his own work than his championship of other artists, such as Steichen, O’Keeffe, Strand, Rodin, Matisse and others and his success at getting the painterly world of art to accept photography as an artform.

This old tin skimmer tool fascinated me when I first saw it – probably more its shell-like shape and lovely feel in one’s hand than my sense that I couldn’t do without it in the kitchen. These were typically used to skim solids off of bone broths and other stew-like dishes. It could also be used a sieve when pouring off waste liquid and preserving the food solids. We use it often and I still love its feel in my hand.

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