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University of California General Libraryiberkeley Regional Cultural History Project Imogen Cunningham PORTRAITS, IDEAS, and DESI

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University of California General Libraryiberkeley Regional Cultural History Project Imogen Cunningham PORTRAITS, IDEAS, and DESI University of California General LibraryIBerkeley Regional Cultural History Project Imogen Cunningham PORTRAITS, IDEAS, AND DESIGN An Interview Conducted by Edna Tartaul Daniel Berkeley 1961 All uses of this manuscript are covered by an agreement between the Regents of the University of California and Imogen Cunningham, dated 7 March 1961. The manuscript is thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript, including the right to publish, are reserved to the General Library of the University of California at Berksloy. No part of the manuscript may be quoted for publication without the wrlt ten permission of the University Librarian of the University of California at Berkeley. i FORF,WORD Imogen Cunningham Partridge--professioneIly Imogen Cunningham--came to the attention of the Regional Cultural History Pra ject of the University of Calif ornia at Berkeley because of her outstanding portrait photography and her long identification with local, national and international activ- ities in photography. Her participation in exhibits, eelec- tion juries, and symposia on photography has been stimulating to her c?lleagues and of lasting value to the field of photo- Miss Cunningham agreed to a series of interviews on her life and work. These wern tape-recorded in June of 1959 at her home at 1331 Green Street in San Francisco, In the course of the interviews she revealed an interesting combination of simplicity and complexity in he r appearance, surroundings and flow of ideas. A small blonde person, neither thin nor thick, she dressed in gkrments of easy cut with accents in either color or design of pleasant and occasionally picturesque nature, Without concern for fashion, she wore clothing useful and in- . teresting to herself, and shoes appropriate to a working photo- grapher who transported herself, with photographic pa raphernalia slung gbout her, on train or bus. Her studio-home was of adequate size and functional arrange- ment, with graceful interpolation of striking fabrics, and snall objects and attractive plants, Seated in a comfortable chair, Miss Cunningham enthusias- tically shared her ideas on a vast variety of subjects. Humorous and ironic incident and ready fact issued from a mind crammed with an immense wealth of life hpressions. Balancing this exuberant flow wss quiet persistence in carving a thought down to its innermost, essential core, By accident it was possible one day to observe the percep- tive skill she brought to her work. An overlarge, trumpet-shaped white blossom, almost gross in appearance, resting its base in a glass of wister, happened to be on the kitchen table at the time of the interview. Miss Cunningham brought forth a Poloroid Land Camera print she had made of the flower, revealing grace, light, and spirit; qualities immediately apparent to the artist which, on reexamination, the flower could be seen indeed to POSSeSS. The transcriptions of these interviews, initially edited by the interviewer, were corrected and modified by Miss Cunning- ham. The manuscript is illustrated by the photographs of William Re Heick of Mill Valley, The Regional Cultural History Project of the University of . California, headed by Willa Baum and under the edministrative supervision of Helen 'dorden of the General Library, has been established to preserve the memoirs of Northern Californians whose activities have contributed significantly to the life of their time, In this endeavor, .the project has conducted a number of tape-recorded interviews with Bay Area artists and axat leaders, This interview is pert of that series, 11% When an appropriate introduction to Miss Cunningham's work was being considered, photographer Dorothea Lange was approached for her advice. She 1'elt quite certainly that Beaumont Newhall should write tho introduction; momover, she persuaded Mr. Newhall to carry out this assignment. Dimctor of the George Eastman House, Rochester, New York, and a bibliographer of Bauhaus publications, oubism, and abstract art, Beemont Newhall is the author of The History of Photo- graphy from 1839 to the Present Dag; The Daguerreot.y-pe in America; and, with Nancy Newhall, Masters of Photography. He has also written many texts accompanying catalogues of photographic exhibitions, The following introduction by Mr. Newhall came to us tape- recorded September 1, 1961, Edna Tartaul Daniel Inte miewer 10 October 1961 Regional Cultural History Project University of California General Library Berkeley, California 4 The work of Imogen Cunr.ingham spans more than half a century of the history of photography and represents the leading pictorial trends of this important period. She was first attracted to photography by the work of Gertrude KNsebier, a portraitist and a member of the Photo Secession, that band of devoted amateur photographers headed by Alfred Stieglitz, who determined to place photography Pn the realm of the fine arts. She saw reproductions of Gertrude ~asebier's work in 1900. nI kept thinking all the time," she recently recollected, "I wish I could be as good as Gertrude Kasebier." She bought a view camera in 1901 and while a student at the University of Washington sha took a job in the Seattle studio of Edward S. Curtis. Edward S. Curtis was famous 'for his remarkable documentation of North American Indians and for portraits from which he made his living. He was a link with the 19th centurg. From him she 'learned to make platinum prints in both quantity and quality. She won a scholarship for foreign study and attended photographic courses at the Technische Hochschule in Dresden, Germany, in 1909. The school had recently revived its photo- graphic department under the direction of Robert Luter, a photoscientist of international fame, and at the time was one of the best schools for photography in the world. While abroad, she visited another member of the Photo Secession, Alvin Langdon Coburn in London, and on her return to America in 1910, she visited Alfred Stieglitz himself. From both she gained greet inspi retion. She opened a studio in Seattle and soon won national re- cognition, not only for her portraits, but for her pictorial work. A portfolio of these pictures was published in WilsonCa Photographic Magazine for March, 1914. There she stated e philosophy which has guided her ever since. "One must be able to gain an understanding at short notice," she wrote, "and at close rsnge, of the beauties of character, intellect and spirit, so as to be able to draw out the best qualities and make them show in the outer aspect of the sitter. To do this I one must not have a too-pronounced notion of what constitutes I1 I beauty in the external, and above all, must not worship it. I To worship beauty for its own sake is narrow and one surely cannot derive from it that a e sthetic pleasure which comes from finding beauty in the commonest things." Imogen Cunningham ma rried the etche Y, Roi Partridge; three sons were born, and the family moved to San Francisco. There she became a friend of Edward Weston. At that time Weston was wcrking in portraiture and was just starting to develop a style of photography based upon the appreciation of the functional capabilities of the camera. When Weston was asked to nominate the work of outstanding American photographers for inclusion in Deutsche Werkbundv- .-- s great international exhibition "Film and photo" in Stuttgart, 1929, hs chose eight examples of Imogen Cunningham's work. They were handsome platinum prints of plants which she had seen closely to emphasize their form. vl She joined a bahd of enthusiastic photographers founded by Ansel Adams a& Willard Van Dyke in 1934 under the name of f/64, a title chosen by the group because it denominates one of the smallest openings in the lens of the camera which gives great depth and definition. Both Adams and Van Dyke were great admirers of Edward Weston, and in their enthusiasism they exhibited, wrote articles, and promoted this approach to photography. Imogen Cunningham has since worked on assignments for magazines and has had x,uch experience in the field now called photojournalism. She has conducted a portrait studio, and she teaches at the California School of Fine Arts. Thus, over a period of sixty years the work and career of Imogen Cunningham is a summary of the history of photography since 1900. It is difficult not to type a photographer. In an inter- view published in U. S. Camera magazine between hsel Adam, Dorothea Lange, and Imogen Cunningham, this very point was brought up. Dorothea Lange complained that she was put into a niche called "documentary photographern and she poi~tedout that Ansel Adams was typed as a landscape photographer, and then she went on to include Izogen, saying, "As far as Imogen is concerned, because she enjoyed photographing plant f oms--" but Imogen did not let her finish. She said to her friend, "Oh, people have forgotten that, Dorothea. Theytve forgotten that I ever did plant foms. You know, I've tried my best to sell people on the idea that I photograph anything that can be -3 . TABIE OF CONTENTS FmWAm ...............................................i INTRODUCTION .......................................... iv TABm OF CONTENTS ..................................... vii pmmI;E .............................................. 1 EARLY PEARS IN SEATTI;E. ............................... 3 Home and Familg..............~...~~~~.~~~~~.~~~~~.. 3 Interest in Art. Friends ........................... 11 Introduction to Photography........................ 18 STUDY IN GE- .....................................
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