Born 1883, in Portland, Oregon and died June 23, 1976, Imogen Cunningham was quite the artist since she was little. Her father, Isaac Burns Cunningham, had always encouraged her to read and would paid for art classes during the summer. Cunningham grew up in Seattle, Washington, majoring in chemistry in college after being advised that one should have a scientific background to become a photographer. When she graduated from the University of Washington, she majored in chemistry with a thesis title "Modern Processes of Photography."
Eventually she was awarded with a grant to study photographic chemistry in Dresden, and when Cunningham returned from Germany she opened her own portrait studio in Seattle. There, besides being the only photographer that was also a charter member of the Society of Seattle Artists, she also urged women to follow the career path in the profession.
After marrying Roi Partridge, she close down her studio and moved to California with her husband and child, where then there she had twin sons. This lead her to photograph her children and plants of her home.
Many of Cunningham's photograph were exhibited around the world, such as in Stuttgart, Germany, San Francisco, and as well as Los Angeles.
Cunningham, after being divorced from Partridge, went to New York to work for Vanity Fair only to return back to Seattle. In the meantime, she had her one-person exhibition at the Dallas Art Museum, and her work was shown at the E. B. Crocker Art Gallery in Sacramento.
Soon Cunningham began taking photos in color, which were included in even more exhibitions.
Cunningham eventually established a studio in San Francisco, and in the following thirteen years Cunningham's work kept getting exhibited across the country and worked in street photography when not making portraits. She also taught at the California School of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Cunningham also traveled and photographed around the world, even experimenting wth Polaroid film. A lot of her work was purchased as well.
Cunningham was also awarded with an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship.
Her first book, "Imogen Cunningham: Photographs" was published by the University of Washington Press.
Eventually Cunningham died on June 23,1976, at the age of 93.
SOURCE:
http://www.imogencunningham.com
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