Imogen Cunningham

I wasn't familiar with Imogen Cunningham's work prior to receiving this book, but I love photography and really enjoyed getting to know the artist through this biography, but mostly through her images. Cunningham began her career in the early 1900s when not many women were photographers, In the days of digital photography when anyone and everyone has a camera at their fingertips and the ability to shoot many frames, I love looking back at old photos when the photographer had limited chanced to capture an image.

Thank you to Getty Publications and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

As a photographer I have known and loved the images of Cunningham. But she is little known to the public outside of the art world. In fact even those in the art world, outside of photographers, probably have never heard of her. Although I have many photography books, they are mostly compendiums of photographers, with many of the well known images of Cunningham. So it is wonderful to have a book solely concentrated on her and her art.

An Eye Opener

I didn't know anything about Imogen Cunningham when I opened this volume. But I have always been impressed by Getty publications, especially the catalogues that accompany their special exhibitions, and I thought that if Cunningham was worth the Getty's attention then she was worth a look from me. That said, I mostly expected a book of pretty or clever photos, a dry biography, and a general air of Georgia O'Keeffe redux. Well, please excuuuuuse me for being a twit.

There is much to be drawn from this slim volume. (Slim in terms of essays; very generous in terms of figures and plates.) Because Cunningham felt as an artist that she should be engaged with the world and the times around her her life's work is like a running commentary on an entire century of art, photography, culture, and artistic styles and movements. Because Cunningham's public comments and writings were remarkably free of cant, her opinions about her work and feminist issues are crisp and refreshing. In that regard her entire life seemed to be a feminist work in progress, and how she reacted and accommodated to her times was illuminating and instructive. And of course, on top of all that, we have her body of work, which touches on every important aspect of professional photography in the Twentieth Century. Close study of some of her work, (say the portrait of Shen Yao discussed in Paul Martineau's essay Introduction), is like a master class in composition.

I could go on, but you get the idea. Cunningham is obviously of considerable importance to people in the field, and is clearly considered to have been under appreciated and under celebrated. I don't know about any of that, and I'm certainly not in a position to opine about quibbles professionals might have about the exhibition as such, but as an interested novice I was quite taken by this volume, enjoyed it immensely, and learned a great deal. Fine by me.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

An interesting retrospective on the life of photographer Imogen Cunningham, I really enjoyed he photographs in this book.

A beautiful retrospective of a talented photographer who deserves a wider audience. From stunning floral images evoking the work of O'Keefe and Modotti to atmospheric early portraits which reminded me of Cameron it's interesting seeing Cunningham move towards something altogether more modern. The accompanying essays are informative and a great introduction to a brilliant artist.

This is what a book showcasing an artist's work should be: a few brief, light essays about the artist with their work inset in the text followed by full-page copies of just their work. Cunningham's work is stark and arresting, but also carries with it almost an air of whimsy.

My only complaint is that, with a book like this, the presentation is just as important as the content. A digital edition does not do it justice. It presents the work too clinically. There just isn't enough room to allow yourself to sink into what you are seeing. A printed edition would definitely get a higher score. This digital edition only gets three out of five stars.

**I received an e-ARC from NetGalley for an honest review**

Absolutely stunning photographs. That is what I've always associated with Imogen Cunningham, and this book just reinforced what I already knew
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The essays included in the book were nicely done, and not as dry as most that come with books like these. Imogen Cunningham was a woman ahead of her time, and never has received as much acknowledgment from the general public as she deserves.

Every picture included in this book is a masterpiece, and any person who picks up a camera and wants to be a photographer should study each photo in detail. Cunningham's attention to detail, the composition of subjects within the frame and most especially the lighting are each so beautifully done that each photo serves as a master class in how photography should be done.

Five out of five stars for an excellent book!

A well-written biography on Imogen Cunningham, however it did get a little dry. Outside of the written biography, which I always enjoy with art books the collection of work is well captured. If you are a fan of turn of the 20th century photography it is worth a read. If you are a fan of Imogen Cuningham you will enjoy the book for sure.

What a beautiful book and an amazing history. I loved the opportunity to look through Cunningham's collection, especially the forms she highlights in nudes and in plants. Very inspiring. To see the overlap with her contemporaries, O'Keeffe, Stein, Kahlo, Stieglitz, and read about such an interesting time in US art history was a treat. This is definitely a book to enjoy in print if you can.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher for an advance copy for his book via netgalley!

What a beautiful book comprised of the masterpieces of. a woman pioneer in the art of photography. She broke down barriers in a male dominant field by her creative eye and her visionary art thru a lens!

Gorgeous images alongside informative essays. A fantastic introduction to Imogen Cunningham's life and work.

This book is an interesting biography and portfolio of Imogen Cunningham, a women born in the early 1910, who chose a career in photograph. The career was dominated by men, but she opened the door to all women.
Her work is incredible for the times and this book has some wonderful reproductions of her work.
A real pleasure to read through this book for anyone, but more so to any one keen on real photography , not computer generated pictures.

This is a book for anyone with an interest in Twentieth Century photography in general and Imogene Cunningham in particular. This is a book primarily published to “...complements the first comprehensive retrospective in the US (J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles) of Imogene Cunningham’s work in 35 years...”.
It is likely to gain a far wider audience than those fortunate to see the exhibition in person.

Imogen Cunningham worked as a photographer during much of the 20th Century, still active in her 90s, until her death in 1976. She engaged with, encouraged and influenced many of the better known American photographers during her working life. 

Lengthy essays in the book provide a detailed background to understanding her upbringing, education, and making her way as a woman photographer in her early years. Her work is discussed in the context of social changes throughout the century, primarily from an American view of woman’s rights, civil rights and national & international conflicts.

Her styles of photography varied widely over throughout her career including portraiture, still life, nudes, botanical, landscape and surrealism. Friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances all feature prominently in her work. Famous names such as Stieglitz, Weston, Lange, Evans, Kahlo, Adams have at one time been a part of Cunningham's life and work.

A final essay discuses Cunningham’s later years when recognition and success finally came her way. These were still busy years, perhaps also reflective time for a woman in her nineties as decades of her work were organised, catalogued and exhibited. 

An engaging book, with well researched essays providing context and background to Cunningham’s career and work. The text is welcome, complementing the abundant photographic plates, from all parts or her career. Details of each plate and notes are also provided, for avid photographers, collectors and readers to further enjoy her work and this publication.

Imogen Cunningham was a female photographer ahead of her time.   Born in 1883 she settled upon photography as a career early in her life in a time when it was most definitely a male dominated profession.    Not only did she study and work in a studio but she started her own studio,  developed her own style and broke plenty of boundaries along the way.      Hers was a much more artistic and personal style of photography than the standard portraits of those days and she caused raised brows with some of her nudes - particularly when she photographed male subjects (even if one was her husband).     At different times the focus of her work changed and she had periods of portraiture, streetscapes, botantical photographs and she particular enjoyed photographing other artists with, and at work on, their craft.      It's fair to say she had a burning passion for photography and through a mix of necessity and desire she worked until the time of her death in 1976 at the age of 93.

<b>Imogen Cunningham A Retrospective </b> by Paul Martineau was heavily researched and was enjoyable to read even for someone who has not previously had an interest in photography.   Purely from a biographical perspective it was interesting but the way the text introduced readers to the context and provided insights into the motivations for certain photographs really worked well.   For me, despite not being an art connoisseur, I spent hours admiring the treasure trove of photographs this title contained.  I particularly liked her portraits, her botanical photographs, her streetscapes and nudes.     Though I didn't particularly enjoy a few of the photographs in the collection from a visual perspective I appreciated them for the way they demonstrated how she experimented and played with different techniques which were described as ground breaking.    

I definitely appreciated the collection so can only imagine what a treat it would be for someone with a trained eye and an artistic bent.    With or without that inclination this was an enjoyable book.

Thanks to Getty Publications and NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.
3.5 stars on Goodreads.

Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective
Paul Martineau
J. Paul Getty Museum, Oct 2020, 256 pages
Art: photography retrospective, Biography
Provided by Pub via NetGalley
⭐⭐⭐⭐

The cover put me in mind of Georgia O’Keefe. Looking at some of Ms. Cunningham’s photographs will do that. The same type of organic form caught at the height of its beauty in such a close-up as to almost change its identity. Nowadays we see this sort of macro shot a lot, but at this time it was groundbreaking.

I found the text to be quite good in the beginning and end, but the middle got a bit draggy. Cunningham’s work got to be outstanding toward the later part of her life, more experimental, looser, more organic. Definitely art photography, not just portrait work: Triangles, Man Ray, Torso, Two Sisters, and Two Callas. Some truly stunning work. Her husband was a jerk, but typical of his time. His attitude of there was only room for one artist in their home was what drove her to such lengths and eventually drove them apart. This was a very nice presentation of her prints. Recommended

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review. I agree with similar reviews which praise the beauty and creativity of the photographs included in this retrospective. Additionally the included essays on Cunningham support the book’s aim of conveying the art and life of the artist. I really enjoyed the wonderful talent of the artist. My feedback would be, however, that I think there is way too much white space on a lot of these pages. With a book like this, I think the presentation matters the most and the pages‘ space should be utilized more effectively. Why, perhaps, couldn’t the photographs be interwoven with the essays? Or at least more images on the essay pages. A book about art should really blow the reader away in this way, and I don’t get that feeling until the very end.

Not only does this book contain many of her beautiful photographs, it details them and is a well-written biography as well.

The photographs are simply stunning.