Image and imagination

by John Loengard

On the occasion of Georgia O'Keeffe's 80th birthday in 1966, 'Life' magazine dispatched photographer John Loengard to her home in New Mexico to document a day in the life of the pioneering American artist. Loengard's elegant black and white images capture the grand, solitary woman in the desert, and candid shots record her daily routine at Ghost Ranch. Juxtaposed here with selected O'Keeffe paintings, these photographs reveal how the austere poetry of the landscape corresponded to the artist's own painterly world. This unique marriage of paintings and photographs also includes a introduction by Loengard describing his first encounter with O'Keeffe and contemplative writings by the artist herself on her work and inspirations.