Imogen Cunningham: Portraiture

by Richard Lorenz

Imogen Cunningham was one of photography's early pioneers, a Seattle-born virtuoso whose brilliant portraits and still lifes helped to establish the medium as an art form. This book collects the best of Cunningham's portrait work - over 200 images, more than half of which were first published in the hardcover edition. Portraiture was Cunningham's first love and foremost specialty and her subjects, captured with stringent clarity and astuteness, include some of the century's best-known artists, photographers, writers and other notables. Ansel Adams, Man Ray, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Spencer Tracy, Cary Grant, Somerset Maugham and Anna Freud were among the thousands of individuals she photographed throughout her career. Her photo files also form an illuminating account of her own life - a compelling picture history comprising portraits of herself, her family and friends. In an illustrated essay accompanying the images, Richard Lorenz discusses Cunningham's approach to portraiture, influences on her work and comparable work by other important photographers. A chronology of Cunningham's life and a selected bibliography are also included.

Genres: Photography, Art and Photography

200 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1998

Reviews

[andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Unplanned, uncommissioned portraits were undoubtedly more creatively satisfying and interesting to Cunningham than many of her paid assignments. As the demand for her portrait services increased during the 1950s and 1960s, she became ever more agitated by the difficulty of satisfying commissioning sitters, whose desire for a flattering portrait was often in conflict with her own interest in documenting an interesting but not necessarily handsome face: "People cannot accept themselves as they really are and that's the problem [for] the portrait photographer."

NEVER HAVE I FELT SO SEEN

[Wilde Sky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of photographs / portraits.

Some of the images were good.

Reading / viewing time around one hour.