Lady behind the lens: early 20th century photographer back in focus
“The Unmade Bed” (1957), by Imogen Cunningham. Gelatin silver print. Getty Museum, Gift of Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser © Imogen Cunningham TrustReclaimed and recognized “Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective” at the J. Paul Getty Museum by Bondo Wyszpolski “Self-Portrait with Elgin Marbles, London” (1909-10), by Imogen Cunningham. Platinum print. Getty Museum © Imogen Cunningham TrustWhile Imogen Cunningham is not as well known as other early- and mid-20th century photographers such as Paul Strand, Alfred Stigelitz, Edward Wilson, Walker Evans and Dorothea Lange, her work parallels and bears comparison to theirs in many respects. Her career behind the camera spanned 70 years—she lived from 1883 to 1976—but how well known was she? Curator Paul Martineau notes in the accompanying catalog that she “was more than eighty years old when she received her first monograph, in the winter 1964 issue of ‘Aperture.’” Books devoted to her work began to appear, in 1970 and again in 1974, with others on the heels of her death, on June 24, 1976, which was also the day that Minor White, her friend and fellow photographer, gave up the ghost. Cunningham’s 1956 solo exhibition at Limelight…
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