Woah woah, man! My art teacher never told me this!
Imogen Cunningham, born in Portland, OR, was a wonderful photographer most famous for her nudes, botanical photos, and portraits. If you’ve taken an American art history class, chances are you’ve probably seen her work (WERE YOU PAYING ATTENTION?!).
Cunningham graduated class of 1907 (OH-SEVEN!), with a major in chemistry. Her thesis was actually about the chemical aspect of the photographic process. In fact, one of the first photographs she took was on the UW campus- a photo of herself nude, in a secluded spot on-campus (I mean in 1906, most of the campus was secluded, so…). She talks about this in the video from “Portrait of Imogen Cunningham” below:
After she graduated, she went on to work with Edward Curtis, another photographer famous for his work with PNW Native Americans…there’s a documentary about him I’d reccomend- Netflix it!
If you are unfamiliar, it’s beautiful stuff worth a gander (and hella risque for early 1900s!!). Here is a link to the Imogen Cunningham Trust, where you can view her work, read more of her bio, and check out where her works are held and being displayed (Henry Art Gallery + SAM being two of them). Imogen, HC Washington loves you!