Imogen Cunningham (; April 12, 1883 – June 23, 1976) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based

Group f/64 Group 64 or f.64 was a group founded by seven 20th-century San Francisco Bay Area photographers who shared a common photographic style characterized by sharply focused and carefully framed images seen through a particularly Western (U.S.) viewp ...

, known for its dedication to the sharp-focus rendition of simple subjects.

Early life

Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregon to father Isaac Burns Cunningham and mother Susan Elizabeth Cunningham (née Johnson). Her parents were from Missouri, though both of their families originally came from Virginia. Cunningham was the fifth of 10 children. Although art was not included in the traditional school curriculum, as a child Cunningham took art lessons on weekends and during vacations. She grew up in Seattle, Washington and attended the Denny School at 5th and Battery Streets in Seattle. In 1901, at the age of eighteen, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4x5 inch view camera, via mail order from the American School of Art in

Scranton, Pennsylvania Scranton is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Lackawanna County. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 U.S. census, Scranton is the largest city in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the Wyoming Va ...

. She entered the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle ...

in 1903, where she became a charter member of the Washington Alpha chapter of

Pi Beta Phi Pi Beta Phi (), often known simply as Pi Phi, is an international women's fraternity founded at Monmouth College, in Monmouth, Illinois on April 28, 1867 as I. C. Sorosis, the first national secret college society of women to be modeled after ...

fraternity for Women. It was not until 1906, while studying at the

in Seattle, that she was inspired to take up photography again by an encounter with the work of

Gertrude Käsebier Gertrude Käsebier (née Stanton; May 18, 1852 – October 12, 1934) was an American photographer. She was known for her images of motherhood, her portraits of Native Americans, and her promotion of photography as a career for women. Biography ...

. Her first photographs in 1906 were portraits taken with a 4-by-5-inch-format camera. With the help of her chemistry professor, Horace Byers, she began to study the chemistry behind photography while paying for her tuition by photographing plants for the botany department. In 1907, Cunningham graduated from University of Washington with a degree in chemistry. Her thesis was titled "Modern Processes of Photography." While there, she served as class vice-president, participated in the German Club and Chemistry Club, and was on the yearbook staff.

Career

After graduating from college in 1907, Cunningham went to work for

Edward S. Curtis Edward Sherriff Curtis (February 19, 1868 – October 19, 1952) was an American photographer and ethnologist whose work focused on the American West and on Native American people. Sometimes referred to as the "Shadow Catcher", Curtis travele ...

in his Seattle studio, gaining knowledge about the portrait business and practical photography. Cunningham worked for Curtis on his project of documenting American Indian tribes for the book ''The North American Indian'', which was published in twenty volumes between 1907 and 1930. Cunningham learned the technique of platinum printing under Curtis's supervision and became fascinated by the process.

Germany

In 1909, Cunningham was awarded the

Graduate Fellowship. This grant allowed her to continue her studies at the

Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ). ...

(trans.: Technical University) in Dresden, Germany, with Professor Robert Luther, the founder of the university's ''Institut für Photographie''. There, she didn't take many photographs, but helped the photographic chemistry department find cheaper solutions for the expensive and rare

platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platin ...

used for printing. In May 1910, she finished her paper, "''About the direct development of platinum paper for brown tones''", describing her process aiming to increase printing speed, improve clarity of highlights tones, and produce sepia tones. On her way back to Seattle, she met with photographers

Alvin Langdon Coburn Alvin Langdon Coburn (June 11, 1882 – November 23, 1966) was an early 20th-century photographer who became a key figure in the development of American pictorialism. He became the first major photographer to emphasize the visual potential of el ...

(in London) and

Alfred Stieglitz Alfred Stieglitz (January 1, 1864 – July 13, 1946) was an American photographer and modern art promoter who was instrumental over his 50-year career in making photography an accepted art form. In addition to his photography, Stieglitz was kno ...

and

in New York.

Seattle

In Seattle, Cunningham opened a studio and later won acclaim for portraiture and pictorial work. Most of her studio work of this time consisted of sitters in their own homes, in her living room, or in the woods surrounding her cottage. At one point she and her husband

Roi Partridge George Roy Partridge (October 14, 1888 – January 25, 1984), also known professionally as Roi Partridge, was an American printmaker and teacher. He was born in Centralia, Washington. At age four he moved with his family to Seattle, where his fathe ...

, a Seattle artist and print maker, climbed up to the Alpine wild flower fields on Mt. Rainier where Roi posed nude as a mystical woodland faun. Her images were shown by the Seattle Fine Arts Society and were later published in the Seattle newspaper the ''

Town Crier A town crier, also called a bellman, is an officer of a royal court or public authority who makes public pronouncements as required. Duties and functions The town crier was used to make public announcements in the streets. Criers often dress ...

'', where they caused a scandal due to a woman photographing a male nude. One critic wrote that her work was vulgar and charged her with being an immoral woman, but Cunningham stated that, "It didn't make a single bit of difference in my business. Nobody thought worse of me."Meltzer, Steve. "A Woman's Eye: How Imogen Cunningham Broke Through Gender Barriers to Help Redefine Modern Photography." ''Imaging Resource, August 23, 2013. Accessed February 7, 2020.'' https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2013/08/23/womans-eye-how-photographer-imogen-cunningham-broke-through-gender-barriers
Cunningham didn't revisit those photographs for another fifty-five years. Cunningham was also known to take nude photos of herself of which her granddaughter, Meg Partridge, said: "Her self-portraits really show her sense of humor, and she was smart about her career. She actively published her work in magazines and newspapers. She had a good eye, but she was a great editor. She knew how to edit her work, so what the world sees is an impressive selection of work." She became a sought-after photographer and exhibited at the

Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences The Brooklyn Museum is an art museum located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. At , the museum is New York City's second largest and contains an art collection with around 1.5 million objects. Located near the Prospect Heights, Crow ...

in 1913. In 1914, Cunningham's portraits were shown at ''An International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography'' in New York. ''

Wilson's Photographic Magazine ''Wilson's Photographic Magazine'' (1889-1914) was an American periodical published in New York by Edward Livingston Wilson. It featured work by notable photographers such as Elmer Chickering and Imogen Cunningham Imogen Cunningham (; April 12 ...

'' published a portfolio of her work. The next year, she married Partridge. Between 1915 and 1920, Cunningham continued her work and had three children (Gryffyd, Rondal, who also became a photographer, and Padraic) with Partridge.

California

In 1917, the family moved to San Francisco, and in 1920 they moved to the Mills College campus in Oakland, where Partridge taught art. Cunningham refined her style, taking a greater interest in pattern and detail and becoming increasingly interested in botanical photography, especially flowers. Between 1923 and 1925 she carried out an in-depth study of the

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendr ...

flower. In 1933, Cunningham founded the California Horticultural Society in which her images were so detailed and clear that many horticulturalist and scientists used her images in their studies. Later in the decade she turned her attention toward industry, creating several series of industrial landscapes in Los Angeles and Oakland. In 1929,

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was a 20th-century American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers..." and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." ...

nominated 10 of Cunningham's photographs (8 botanical, 1 industrial, and 1 nude) for inclusion in the "Film und Foto" exhibition. Her renowned ''Two Callas'' debuted in that exhibition. Cunningham once again changed direction, becoming more interested in the human form, particularly hands, and she was fascinated with the hands of artists and musicians. This interest led to her employment by ''Vanity Fair'', photographing stars without make-up.

Group f/64

As Cunningham moved away from

pictorialism Pictorialism is an international style and aesthetic movement that dominated photography during the later 19th and early 20th centuries. There is no standard definition of the term, but in general it refers to a style in which the photographer ha ...

to embrace sharp-focus photography she joined with like-minded photographers, including

Ansel Adams Ansel Easton Adams (February 20, 1902 – April 22, 1984) was an American landscape photographer and environmentalist known for his black-and-white images of the American West. He helped found Group f/64, an association of photographers advoc ...

, and

Willard Van Dyke Willard Van Dyke (December 5, 1906 – January 23, 1986) was an American filmmaker, photographer, arts administrator, teacher, and former director of the film department at the Museum of Modern Art.http://www.moma.org/docs/press_archives/6278/rel ...

. Together these individuals formed

to promote a more relevant and meaningful style of photography, that rejected soft and pictorial and promoted what they called "pure or straight photography." They aimed to promote simple and straightforward photography technique that employed the smallest focal apertures (f/64 being the smallest) to create finely detailed images. In an interview Cunningham mentioned that the f/64 group "Is not only American, its Western American. It isn't even American. Its western." She also mentioned, "This does not mean that we all used the small aperture, but we were for reality. That was what we talked about too. Not being phony, you know."

''Vanity Fair''

In 1932, Cunningham was invited to do some work in New York for ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

.'' They commissioned her to make portraits of "ugly men" that were prominent in the arts. She created photographs that higlighted actors Wallace Beery and

Spencer Tracy Spencer Bonaventure Tracy (April 5, 1900 – June 10, 1967) was an American actor. He was known for his natural performing style and versatility. One of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, Tracy was the first actor to win two cons ...

. Her work with Vanity Fair, Sunset and other magazines included portraits of Gertrude Stein, Minor White, James Broughton,

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer and choreographer. Her style, the Graham technique, reshaped American dance and is still taught worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over seventy years. She w ...

August Sander August Sander (17 November 1876 – 20 April 1964) was a German portrait and documentary photographer. His first book ''Face of our Time'' (German: ''Antlitz der Zeit'') was published in 1929. Sander has been described as "the most important Ger ...

, Man Ray and

Theodore Roethke Theodore Huebner Roethke ( ; May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963) was an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 1954 for his book '' The W ...

. She continued with ''Vanity Fair'' until it stopped publication in 1936.

Later career

Street photography

In the 1940s, Cunningham turned to documentary street photography, which she executed as a side project while supporting herself with her commercial and studio photography. In 1945, Cunningham was invited by

to accept a position as a faculty member for the art photography department at the

California School of Fine Arts San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) was a private college of contemporary art in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1871, SFAI was one of the oldest art schools in the United States and the oldest west of the Mississippi River. Approxim ...

Dorothea Lange Dorothea Lange (born Dorothea Margaretta Nutzhorn; May 26, 1895 – October 11, 1965) was an American documentary photographer and photojournalist, best known for her Depression-era work for the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Lange's ...

and Minor White joined as well.

Mentorship

In 1964, Imogen Cunningham met the photographer

Judy Dater Judith Rose Dater (née Lichtenfeld; June 21, 1941) is an American photographer and feminist. She is perhaps best known for her 1974 photograph, '' Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite'', featuring an elderly Imogen Cunningham, one of America's first w ...

while leading a workshop focusing on the life and work of

in Big Sur Hot Springs, California which later became the

Esalen Institute The Esalen Institute, commonly called Esalen, is a non-profit American retreat center and intentional community in Big Sur, California, which focuses on humanistic alternative education. The institute played a key role in the Human Potenti ...

. Dater was greatly inspired by Cunningham's life and work. Cunningham is featured in one of Dater's most popular photographs, ''

Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite ''Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite'' is a 1974 photograph by Judy Dater. It depicts elderly photographer Imogen Cunningham, encountering nude model Twinka Thiebaud behind a tree in Yosemite National Park. It is considered Dater's most popular photo ...

'', which depicts elderly Cunningham encountering nude model

Twinka Thiebaud Twinka Thiebaud (born December 9, 1945) is an American model who has posed for many of the most important photographers of the 20th century. A photograph by Judy Dater depicting Thiebaud, '' Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite'', is considered among t ...

behind a tree in Yosemite National Park. The two shared an interest in portraiture and remained friends until Cunningham's death in 1976. Three years later, Dater published Imogen ''Cunningham: A Portrait,'' containing interviews with many of Cunningham's photographic contemporaries, friends, and family along with photographs by both Dater and Cunningham. In 1973, her work was exhibited at the Rencontres d'Arles photography festival in France through the group exhibition: ''Trois photographes américaines, Imogen Cunningham, Linda Connor, Judy Dater.''

Awards

* 1967: Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

* 1968: Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts degree from the

California College of Arts and Crafts California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

in Oakland * 1970: Guggenheim fellowship in Creative Arts for Photography * nknown year Dorothea Lange Award – first recipient * 2004: Hall of Fame Inductee, International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum

Personal life

On February 11, 1915, Cunningham married etching artist, printmaker and teacher

.Washington, Marriage Records, 1854–2013 They had three sons: Gryffyd Partridge and twins

Rondal Partridge Rondal Partridge (September 4, 1917 – June 19, 2015) was an American photographer. After working as an assistant to well-known photographers Dorothea Lange and Ansel Adams in his youth, he went on to a long career as a photographer and filmmaker. ...

and Padraic Partridge. The couple divorced in 1934. Rondal's daughter, Meg Partridge, cataloged Cunningham's work. As of 1940, Cunningham lived in Oakland, California, though she had studios in various locations in San Francisco. Cunningham continued to take photographs until shortly before her death at age 93, on June 23, 1976, in San Francisco, California. Cunningham was named Imogen after the heroine of Shakespeare's ''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerning the early Celt ...

.''

Works and publications

Books

''Chronological by date of publication'' * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Modern Processes of Photography.'' Thesis, University of Washington, 1907. * Cunningham, Imogen. "After Ninety." Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1977. , and 0-295-95673-9(pbk.) * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: Portraiture.'' Boston: Little, Brown and Co, 1997. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: On the Body.'' Boston: Bullfinch Press, 1998. * Cunningham, Imogen, Richard Lorenz, and Manfred Heiting. ''Imogen Cunningham, 1883–1976.'' Köln: Taschen, 2001. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: Flora.'' 2001. * Cunningham, Imogen, Meg Partridge, John Wood, Elizabeth Partridge, Rondal Partridge, John Marcy, Pam Clark, and Crissy Welzen. ''Imogen Cunningham: Platinum and Palladium.'' South Dennis, Mass.: 21st Editions, Steven Albahari, 2012. * Cunningham, Imogen, William Morris, John Wood, Pam Clark, Crissy Welzen, Sam Klimek, Arthur Larson, Sarah Creighton, and Steven Albahari. ''Imogen Cunningham: Symbolist ; with Poetry and Prose by William Morris.'' South Dennis, Mass.: 21st Editions, Steven Albahari, 2013.

Exhibition catalogs

''Chronological by date of exhibition'' * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Imogen Cunningham: Photographs 1921–1967.'' Stanford, Calif.: Leland Stanford Junior University, 1967. ** Exhibition held March 31 to April 23, 1967, Stanford Art Gallery, Leland Stanford Junior University. * Massar, Phyllis Dearborn, and Imogen Cunningham. ''Photographs by Imogen Cunningham.'' New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1973. ** Catalog of an exhibition held on the balcony of the Blumenthal Patio, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Apr. 24 – July 2, 1973. ** * Cunningham, Imogen, and Margery Mann. ''Imogen!: Imogen Cunningham Photographs, 1910–1973.'' 1974. ** Published in connection with an exhibition shown at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, March 23 – April 21, 1974 * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: Frontiers : Photographs 1906–1976.'' Berkeley, Calif: The Trust, 1978. ** An exhibition organized by the Imogen Cunningham Trust in 1978 ; essay by Richard Lorenz. * Cunningham, Imogen. ''The Photography of Imogen Cunningham: A Centennial Selection.'' New York, N.Y.: The Museum, 1985. ** Centennial celebration at Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, December 13, 1985 – January 30, 1986. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: MEJE fotografieje 1906–1976.'' Ljubljana: Moderna Galerija, 1987. ** Exhibition "Imogen Cunningham" held at the Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, March 10–31, 1987. In Slovenian. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: frontiers : fotografie 1906–1976.'' Roma: U.S.I.S., 1987. ** Exhibition held at Villa Croce, Genova, Oct. 28 – November 22, 1987. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: fronteras, fotografías, 1906–1976.'' adrid írculo de Bellas Artes 1988. ** Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, 26 de enero al 28 de febrero de 1988. Exposición organizada por the Imogen Cunningham Trust, Berkeley, California, Círculo de Bellas Artes, Embajada de los Estados Unidos ; ensayo de R. Lorenz. * Heyman, Therese Thau, Mary Street Alinder, and Naomi Rosenblum. ''Seeing Straight: The F.64 Revolution in Photography.'' Oakland, Calif: Oakland Museum, 1992. ** Published to coincide with a major traveling exhibition, organized by the Oakland Museum in 1992, which re-creates the original 1932 exhibition by Group f.64. * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Imogen Cunningham: die Poesie der Form.'' Schaffhausen: Edition Stemmle, 1993. ** Catalog of an exhibition held August 28 through October 3, 1993 at the Fotografie Forum Frankfurt. German and English. * San Francisco Camerawork, and Alliance français de San Francisco. ''Imogen Cunningham: Paris in the Sixties = Imogen Cunningham : Paris Dans Les Années Soixante.'' San Francisco: Alliance français de San Francisco, 1993. ** Catalogue of a traveling exhibition held in San Francisco, Oct. 14 – November 10, 1993, organized by San Francisco Camerawork and the Alliance français de San Francisco. English and French. Venues in the United States: Denver, Atlanta, and Boston ; venues in France: Arles, Paris. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. ''Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective Exhibition, September 15 – November 4, 1995, Howard Greenberg Gallery.'' New York (120 Wooster St. 10012): Howard Greenberg Gallery, 1995. ** Exhibition held Sep 15 – November 4, 1995. Organized by Richard Lorenz in association with the Imogen Cunningham Trust. * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Imogen Cunningham: Vintage Photographs 1910–1973.'' New York: John Stevenson Gallery, 2006. ** Exhibition catalog: September 2006. Includes

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both compute ...

. * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Imogen Cunningham.'' Santa Barbara CA: East West Gallery, 2007. ** Catalog of an exhibition titled "Paired: Imogen Cunningham and Rondal Partridge, featuring works by Horace Bristol", held at East West Gallery, Santa Barbara, October 5, 2007 to January 5, 2008. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Mónica Fuentes Santos. ''Imogen Cunningham.'' 2012. ** Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain, September 2012 – January 2013, and Kulturhuset, Stockholm, May–September 2013 * Martineau, Paul. ''Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective.'' 2020. ** Published to accompany an exhibition held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, March – June 2022, and the Seattle Art Museum, November 2021 – February 2022.

Films, videos

* Padula, Fred. ''Two Photographers: Wynn Bullock and Imogen Cunningham.'' Fred Padula, 1967. * Korty, John. ''Imogen Cunningham, Photographer.''

John Korty John Korty (June 22, 1936 – March 9, 2022) was an American film director and animator, best known for the television film ''The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman'' and the documentary ''Who Are the DeBolts? And Where Did They Get Nineteen Kids ...

, 1972. * Cunningham, Imogen, Ann Hershey, and Shera Thompson. ''Never give up—Imogen Cunningham.'' New Brunswick, NJ: Phoenix/BFA Films & Video, 1975. ** Features an interview with and autobiographical study of Imogen Cunningham and her photographic work of over 70 years. * Cunningham, Imogen. ''Imogen Cunningham at 93.'' New York: Carousel Films, 1976. Producer, CBS News. * Cunningham, Imogen, and Meg Partridge. ''Portrait of Imogen.'' Valley Ford, CA: Distributed by Pacific Pictures, 1987. ** Photographer Imogen Cunningham presents more than 250 of her own photographs through informal recorded interviews when she was in her late eighties.

References

External links

Imogen Cunningham Trust

Imogen Cunningham papers, 1903-1991
at

Archives of American Art The Archives of American Art is the largest collection of primary resources documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States. More than 20 million items of original material are housed in the Archives' research centers in Washing ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Imogen 1883 births 1976 deaths American portrait photographers Photographers from California Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Artists from the San Francisco Bay Area Artists from Portland, Oregon Pacific Northwest artists Photographers from Oregon San Francisco Art Institute faculty University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni 20th-century American photographers 20th-century American women photographers American women academics