Imogen Cunningham (April 12, 1883 – June 24, 1976) was an
American photographer , which she was known for taken pictures of nudes, botanical and industrial landscapes. Imogen studied chemistry at the University of
Washington in Seattle and after being advised by her professor that she should
get a scientific background if she wanted to be a photographer. During this
time she worked as a secretary producing slides for the botanists at
university. It may be this that got her into taking photos of plants. After graduation Imogen worked in the Seattle
portrait studio of Edward S. Curtis, a photographer. Here she learned the
techniques of platinum printing, which gave her a greater tonal range in her black
and white photography. Her first photographs were of allegorical studies, which
she made with artist friends. Characteristics of the photographs were the soft
focus, or blurred imagery. In the 1920’s
Cunningham refined her style, taking a greater interest in pattern and detail
and becoming increasingly interested in botanical photography, flowers and
nudes. In the 1940s, Cunningham turned
to documentary street photography. Cunningham died in 1976 at the age of 93.
Nude 1932
When I first started this photography unit, we were shown
this in a power point. We were told about composition and I couldn’t understand
it when I looked at this one . I was curious about the composition of this one
because it was right in the center and from I can remember from what I was told , the photographer has
not followed the traditional rules of composition, such as the rule of thirds, in
this image. When i look at this my eye follows the body round.
Hands and Aloe
Plicatilis, 1960
In this photograph here she has used a technique called Double
Exposure which combines two different images into a single image. This is achieved by taking one photograph,
and not winding the film on, and
then taking another photograph on ‘top of’ the same bit of film. I
think she has used this technique to bring together 2 things which she
recognises are similar in shape and form … the human hand and the flowers. From my research I know that she became
interested in taking photos of hands and feet, and this image may be part of
that interest.
Agave Design 1, 1920s
This is one of her botanical photos, I like this because the
way it is positioned and from what I was studying of using shapes in her images,
I could see shapes in this – triangles, straight edges creating sharp points.
When I started this unit in photography, I couldn’t understand composition and
shapes in photographs, however after doing it for a while I can now understand
it better and I can see it better in photographs. I perhaps do not fully
understand composition but I am starting to recognize well composed images.
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