Imogen cunningham biography summary organizer

Imogen Cunningham

American photographer (–)

Imogen Cunningham (; April 12, – June 23, ) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to the sharp-focus rendition of simple subjects.[1]

Early life

Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregon to father Isaac Burns Cunningham and mother Susan Elizabeth Cunningham (née Johnson).[2][3][4] Her parents were from Missouri, though both of their families originally came from Virginia.[2] 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.[5]

She grew up in Seattle, Washington and attended the Denny College at 5th and Battery Streets in Seattle.[6]

In , at the age of eighteen, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4x5 inch view camera, via mail order from the American Academy of Art in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

She entered the University of Washington in , where she became a charter member of the Washington Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi fraternity for Women.[7][8] It was not until , while studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, that she was inspired to take up photography again by an encounter with the function of Gertrude Käsebier.

Her first photographs in were portraits taken with a 4-byinch-format camera.[7] With the help of her affinity professor, Horace Byers, she began to study the chemistry behind photography while paying for her tuition by photographing plants for the botany department.

In , Cunningham graduated from the 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.[9]

Career

After graduating from college in , Cunningham went to serve for Edward S.

Curtis in his Seattle studio, gaining awareness about the portrait business and practical photography.[10] 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 and Cunningham learned the technique of platinum printing under Curtis's supervision and became fascinated by the process.

Germany

In , Cunningham was awarded the Pi Beta Phi Graduate Fellowship.[11] This grant allowed her to continue her studies at the Technische Hochschule (trans.: Technical University) in Dresden, Germany,[12] with Professor Robert Luther, the founder of the university's Institut für Photographie.

There, she didn't hold many photographs, but helped the photographic chemistry department find cheaper solutions for the expensive and rare platinum used for printing. In May , she finished her paper, "About the manage development of platinum paper for brown tones", describing her process aiming to increase printing speed, improve clarity of highlights tones, and produce sepia tones.[13]

On her way back to Seattle, she met with photographers Alvin Langdon Coburn (in London) and Alfred Stieglitz and Gertrude Käsebier 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 second consisted of sitters in their own homes, in her living room, or in the woods surrounding her cottage.

Imogen Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregon, on April 12, At the age of 18, she purchased a camera but quickly missing interest and sold it to a friend. With the guidance of chemistry professor Horace Byers, Cunningham mastered photography and earned money by photographing plants for the botany department. After graduating inCunningham began working for Edward Curtis in his Seattle studio, gaining experience in portraiture.

At one point she and her husband Roi Partridge, a Seattle artist and print maker, climbed up to the Alpine untamed 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, 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."[14][15] 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 perform in magazines and newspapers.

She had a good eye, but she was a great editor. She knew how to proofread her work, so what the world sees is an commanding selection of work."[14]

She became a sought-after photographer and exhibited at the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences in [16] In , Cunningham's portraits were shown at An International Exhibition of Pictorial Photography in New York.

Wilson's Photographic Magazine published a portfolio of her work.

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

California

In , the family moved to San Francisco, and in 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 and she carried out an in-depth study of the Magnolia flower. In , Cunningham founded the California Horticultural World in which her images were so detailed and clear that many horticulturalist and scientists used her images in their studies.[18] Later in the decade she turned her attention toward industry, creating several series of industrial landscapes in Los Angeles and Oakland.

In , Edward Weston nominated 10 of Cunningham's photographs (8 botanical, 1 industrial, and 1 nude) for inclusion in the "Film und Foto" exhibition.

All Artists A. Museum-quality archival printing and customized framing made-to-order. Best Sellers. Museum Masters.

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 to embrace sharp-focus photography she joined with like-minded photographers, including Ansel Adams, Edward Weston, and Willard Van Dyke.[14] Together these individuals formed Organization f/64 to promote a more relevant and meaningful style of photography, that rejected soft and pictorial and promoted what they called "pure or straight photography."[14] They aimed to promote straightforward and straightforward photography technique that employed the smallest focal apertures (f/64 being the smallest) to create finely detailed images.[19] In an interview Cunningham mentioned that the f/64 group "is not only American, it is Western American.

It isn't even American. It's western." She also mentioned, "This does not mean that we all used the petite aperture, but we were for reality. That was what we talked about too. Not entity phony, you know."[20]

Vanity Fair

In , Cunningham was invited to execute some work in New York for Vanity Fair. They commissioned her to make portraits of "ugly men" that were prominent in the arts.

She created photographs that highlighted actors Wallace Beery and Spencer Tracy. Her work with Vanity Fair, Sunset and other magazines included portraits of Gertrude Stein, Minor Alabaster , James Broughton, Martha Graham, August Sander, Man Ray and Theodore Roethke.[18] She continued with Vanity Fair until it stopped publication in

Later career

Street photography

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

In , Cunningham was invited by Ansel Adams to accept a position as a faculty member for the art photography department at the California School of Satisfactory Arts. Dorothea Lange and Insignificant White joined as well.

Mentorship

In , Imogen Cunningham met the photographer Judy Dater while foremost a workshop focusing on the life and work of Edward Weston in Big Sur Scorching Springs, California which later became the Esalen Institute.

Dater was greatly inspired by Cunningham's being and work.

Imogen Cunningham (/ ˈkʌnɪŋəm /; April 12, – June 23, ) was an American photographer known for her botanical photography, nudes, and industrial landscapes. Cunningham was a member of the California-based Group f/64, known for its dedication to the sharp-focus rendition of plain subjects. [1].

Cunningham is featured in one of Dater's most popular photographs, Imogen and Twinka at Yosemite, which depicts elderly Cunningham encountering nude model Twinka Thiebaud behind a tree in Yosemite National Park. The two shared an interest in portraiture and remained friends until Cunningham's death in 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 , 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

Personal life

On February 11, , Cunningham married etching designer, printmaker and teacher Roi Partridge.[25] They had three sons: Gryffyd Partridge and twins Rondal Partridge and Padraic Partridge.[26][27] The couple divorced in Rondal's daughter, Meg Partridge, cataloged Cunningham's work.[28]

As of , Cunningham lived in Oakland, California,[29] though she had studios in various locations in San Francisco.

Cunningham continued to obtain photographs until shortly before her death at age 93, on June 23, , in San Francisco, California.[30][31]

Cunningham was named Imogen after the heroine of Shakespeare's Cymbeline.[32]

Works and publications

Books

Chronological by meet of publication

  • Cunningham, Imogen.

    Modern Processes of Photography. Thesis, University of Washington, OCLC&#;

  • Cunningham, Imogen. "After Ninety." Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, ISBN&#;, and (pbk.)
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz.

    Imogen Cunningham: Portraiture. Boston: Little, Brown and Co, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. Imogen Cunningham: On the Body. Boston: Bullfinch Squeeze, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
  • Cunningham, Imogen, Richard Lorenz, and Manfred Heiting.

    Imogen Cunningham, – Köln: Taschen, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. Imogen Cunningham: Flora. ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
  • 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, OCLC&#;[33]

  • 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, OCLC&#;[34]

Exhibition catalogs

Chronological by date of exhibition

  • Cunningham, Imogen.

    Imogen Cunningham: Photographs – Stanford, Calif.: Leland Stanford Junior University, OCLC&#;

    • Exhibition held Parade 31 to April 23, , 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, OCLC&#;,

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Margery Mann. Imogen!: Imogen Cunningham Photographs, – ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
    • Published in connection with an exhibition shown at the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Pride 23 – April 21,
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz.

    Imogen Cunningham: Frontiers&#;: Photographs – Berkeley, Calif: The Trust, OCLC&#;

    • An exhibition organized by the Imogen Cunningham Trust in ; essay by Richard Lorenz.
  • Cunningham, Imogen. The Photography of Imogen Cunningham: A Centennial Selection. New York, N.Y.: The Museum, OCLC&#;
    • Centennial celebration at Whitney Museum of American Art at Philip Morris, December 13, – January 30,
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz.

    Imogen Cunningham: MEJE fotografieje – Ljubljana: Moderna Galerija, OCLC&#;

    • Exhibition "Imogen Cunningham" held at the Moderna Galerija, Ljubljana, Pride 10–31, In Slovenian.
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. Imogen Cunningham: frontiers&#;: fotografie – Roma: U.S.I.S., OCLC&#;
    • Exhibition held at Villa Croce, Genova, Oct.

      28 – November 22,

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Richard Lorenz. Imogen Cunningham: fronteras, fotografías, – [Madrid]: [Círculo de Bellas Artes], OCLC&#;
    • Círculo de Bellas Artes, Madrid, 26 de enero al 28 de febrero de Exposición organizada por the Imogen Cunningham Confidence, 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 Revolution in Photography. Oakland, Calif: Oakland Museum, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
    • Published to coincide with a major traveling exhibition, organized by the Oakland Museum in , which re-creates the original exhibition by Group f
  • Cunningham, Imogen.

    Imogen Cunningham: die Poesie der Form. Schaffhausen: Edition Stemmle, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

    • Catalog of an exhibition held August 28 through October 3, 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, OCLC&#;

    • Catalogue of a traveling exhibition held in San Francisco, Oct.

      14 – November 10, , 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, , Howard Greenberg Gallery. New York ( Wooster St. ): Howard Greenberg Gallery, OCLC&#;

    • Exhibition held Sep 15 – November 4, Organized by Richard Lorenz in association with the Imogen Cunningham Trust.
  • Cunningham, Imogen.

    Imogen Cunningham: Vintage Photographs – Modern York: John Stevenson Gallery, OCLC&#;

    • Exhibition catalog: September Includes CD-ROM.
  • Cunningham, Imogen. Imogen Cunningham. Santa Barbara CA: East West Gallery, OCLC&#;
    • 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, , to January 5,
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Mónica Fuentes Santos.

    Imogen Cunningham. ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

    • Published in conjunction with an exhibition held at Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, Spain, September – January , and Kulturhuset, Stockholm, May–September
  • Martineau, Paul.

    Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective. ISBN&#;

    • Published to accompany an exhibition held at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA, March – June , and the Seattle Art Museum, November – February

Films, videos

  • Padula, Fred.

    Two Photographers: Wynn Bullock and Imogen Cunningham. Fred Padula, OCLC&#;

  • Korty, John. Imogen Cunningham, Photographer.John Korty, OCLC&#;
  • Cunningham, Imogen, Ann Hershey, and Shera Thompson. Never donate up—Imogen Cunningham. New Brunswick, NJ: Phoenix/BFA Films & Video, OCLC&#;
    • Features an interview with and autobiographical study of Imogen Cunningham and her photographic work of over 70 years.
  • Cunningham, Imogen.

    Imogen Cunningham at New York: Carousel Films, Producer, CBS News. OCLC&#;, ,

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Meg Partridge. Portrait of Imogen. Valley Ford, CA: Distributed by Pacific Pictures, OCLC&#;
    • Photographer Imogen Cunningham presents more than of her possess photographs through informal recorded interviews when she was in her late eighties.

See also

References

  1. ^Blaustein, Jonathan (December 11, ).

    "An In-Depth History of Group f"(Includes slideshow).

    Short Biography - Imogen Cunningham Official Site, carousel: Imogen Cunningham, Self Portrait with Camera, Botanical photography, nudes, portraits and industrial landscapes were some of Cunningham’s major photographic themes. Cunningham grew up in a big family in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington.

    The New York Times. Retrieved March 9,

  2. ^ ab"Isaac B Cunningham – United States Census, ". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,
  3. ^"Isaac B Cunningham – Joined States Census, ".

    FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,

  4. ^"Isaac B Cunningham – United States Census, ". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,
  5. ^Lorenz, Richard (). Imogen Cunningham: Ideas without End.

    San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p.&#;

  6. ^"Eighth grade class standing on steps of the Denny School, Seattle, April 26, "(Photograph). University of Washington Libraries. Particular Collections Division. April 26, Retrieved March 8,
  7. ^ abLorenz, Richard ().

    Imogen Cunningham: Portraiture. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company. p.&#;9.

  8. ^The Arrow of Pi beta Phi,, Summer
  9. ^University of Washington Yearbook,
  10. ^O'Leary, Chandler; Spring, Jessica ().

    Dead feminists: historic heroines in living color. Seattle, WA: Sasquatch Books. pp.&#;72–7.

  11. ^The Arrow of Pi Beta Phi, January
  12. ^"Imogen Cunningham – Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Passenger Lists".

    FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,

  13. ^"Imogen Cunningham". Adobe Spark. Retrieved April 13,
  14. ^ abcdMeltzer, Steve.

    "A Woman's Eye: How Imogen Cunningham Broke Through Gender Barriers to Help Redefine Modern Photography." Imaging Resource, August 23, Accessed February 7,

  15. ^Myers, William. "From Pictorialist to Modernist." The New York Sun, October 5, Accessed February 7,
  16. ^"Imogen Cunningham, The First Magnolia, - Artwork ".

    Jackson Fine Art. Retrieved March 6,

  17. ^ ab"Imogen Cunningham". International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum.

    Imogen Cunningham was an groundbreaking American photographer. She was top known for her detailed, sharply focused photographs of plants as well as her revealing portraits. Cunningham took many well-known portraits of celebrities and artists, especially while working for Vanity Just in the s. Imogen Cunningham was born in Portland, Oregon, on April 12,

    February 7, Retrieved February 7,

  18. ^Conrad III, Barnaby (). Interviews with Master Photographers. Paddington Press.
  19. ^"Imogen Cunningham." Aperture 11, no. 4 ():
  20. ^"Book of Members, – Chapter C"(PDF).

    American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved July 29,

  21. ^"Imogen Cunningham receiving her Honorary Doctorate&#;: CCAC Commencement". Vault. California College of the Arts. Retrieved July 10,
  22. ^"Imogen Cunningham – US & Canada Competition Creative Arts – Photography".

    John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. Archived from the original on April 2, Retrieved March 9,

  23. ^"Imogen Cunningham (–)". International Photography Hall of Fame and Museum. Archived from the original on April 27, Retrieved March 7,
  24. ^Washington, Marriage Records, –
  25. ^"Imogen Partridge – United States Census, ".

    FamilySearch. Retrieved Pride 8,

  26. ^"Imogen Partridge – Joined States Census, ".

    Although art was not included in the traditional school curriculum, as a child Cunningham took art lessons on weekends and during vacations. Inat the age of eighteen, Cunningham bought her first camera, a 4x5 inch view cameravia mail order from the American School of Art in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She entered the University of Washington inwhere she became a charter member of the Washington Alpha chapter of Pi Beta Phi fraternity for Women. Her first photographs in were portraits taken with a 4-byinch-format camera.

    FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,

  27. ^Beason, Tyrone (August 6, ). "Out of the Attic And into The Light". The Seattle Times. Retrieved March 8,
  28. ^"Imogen C* Partridge – United States Census, ".

    FamilySearch. Retrieved Pride 8,

  29. ^"Imogen Partridge – Merged States Social Security Death Index". FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,
  30. ^"Imogen C Partridge – California, Death Index".

    FamilySearch. Retrieved March 8,

  31. ^"Biography". Imogen Cunningham. Archived from the original on March 29, Retrieved March 8,
  32. ^"Imogen Cunningham: Platinum and Palladium".

    21st Editions. Retrieved March 8,

  33. ^"Imogen Cunningham: Symbolist". 21st Editions. Retrieved Rally 8,

Further reading

  • Cunningham, Imogen. Photographs. Seattle: University of Washington Pressurize, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Judy Dater.

    Imogen Cunningham: A Portrait. Boston: New York Graphic Society, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

  • Cunningham, Imogen, and Amy Rule. Imogen Cunningham: Selected Texts and Bibliography. Boston: G.K. Hall, World photographers reference series, v.

    2.

    Imogen Cunningham (born April 12, , Portland, Oregon, U.S.—died June 24, , San Francisco, California) was an American photographer who is best known for her portraits and her images of plant life.

    ISBN&#;OCLC&#;

  • Lorenz, Richard, and Imogen Cunningham. Imogen Cunningham: Ideas Without End&#;: a Life in Photographs. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;
  • Alinder, Mary Street. Group F Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, and the Community of Artists Who Revolutionized American Photography. Recent York, NY&#;: Bloomsbury, ISBN&#;OCLC&#;,

External links