Imogen Cunningham is renowned as one of the greatest American women photographers. In 1901, having sent away $15 for her first camera, she began her seventy-five year photographic journey. Cunningham soon turned her attention to both the nude as well as native plant forms in her garden. The results were staggering; an amazing body of work comprised of bold, contemporary forms. These works are characterized by a visual precision that is not scientific, but which presents the lines and textures of her subjects articulated by natural light and their own gestures. Her refreshing, yet formal and sensitive floral images from the 1920’s ultimately became some of her most acclaimed images.

Cunningham also had an intuitive command of portraiture but she is noted for her inclusion in the “Group f.64” show in San Francisco in 1932. With a small group of photographers which included Edward Weston and Ansel Adams, she pioneered the renewal of photography on the West Coast.Awarded a Guggenheim fellowship, Cunningham’s work continues to be exhibited and collected around the world.