“Iwas born in Hoboken. I am an American. Photography is my passion. The search for truth my obsession.” No succession of statements in the history of photography appears so simple or resounds with such significance. In it Alfred Stieglitz (1864-1946) conveyed an origin, a nationality, a means of expression, an ability to love, and a mission. The first sentence begs for biography. The second demands a look at the circle of American artists around Stieglitz who were trying to articulate and demonstrate a uniquely American sensibility—the painters Arthur Dove, Marsden Hartley, John Marin, and Georgia O’Keeffe, the writers William Carlos Williams, Sherwood Anderson, Hart Crane, Paul Rosenfeld, and Waldo Frank, the photographers Paul Strand, Ansel Adams, and Eliot Porter. The third sentence calls to mind not only Stieglitz’s photography but also his efforts to bring about the recognition of photography as art. The ambiguity of the last sentence (“The search for truth my obsession”) and of similar remarks made during the course of a long career helped produce the myth of Stieglitz—the heroic visionary, perfectionist, sage. His search for truth did indeed lead to such contributions as the introduction of modern art (Picasso, Matisse, Kandinsky, Cézanne, Picabia, Rodin, Brancusi) to America, the discovery and support of major talents, and his own art. But anyone who made his voice heard as often as Stieglitz did, who allowed himself to be quoted and misquoted and contradicted himself so often, who performed so many good deeds and won the adoration of so