THOMAS EVANS | DATE 1/23/2013

Modernist Pioneer: Imogen Cunningham

Throughout her long life, Imogen Cunningham (1883–1976) was tireless and exemplary in her pursuit of new developments in photography and in the expansion of her own practice. An inspiration to several successive generations, she reinvented the genres of botanical photography, street photography, nudes and portraiture, and expanded the possibilities of the double exposure. A sumptuous new publication by TF Editores / D.A.P. celebrates the rich diversity of this modernist pioneer, covering Cunningham’s entire seven-decade career—from her abstract shots of plants and nudes and optical illusions created using techniques such as inverted positive/negative images and double exposure, to her iconic portraits for Vanity Fair of artists, dancers, actors, musicians and writers such as Man Ray, Alfred Stieglitz, Martha Graham, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Morris Graves and Merce Cunningham. Featured image, "Calla Lily" (1925), is reproduced from Imogen Cunningham.