Imogen Cunningham: A portrait

Book Description

First Edition

60, full page photos by Cunningham from Ansel Adams, Gertrude Stein, Cary Grant, nudes, still lifes, common people, Frida Kahlo

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Imogen without End--

An adventure

Imogen Cunningham: Ideas without End A Life and Photographs
Richard Lorenz
Manufacturer: Chronicle Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Imogen Cunningham: On the Body

Imogen Cunningham 1883 - 1976

Berenice Abbott: Changing New York

Harry Callahan (Aperture Masters of Photography)

The Photographer's Eye

ASIN: 0811803570

Book Description

From bold, evocative nudes to starkly beautiful still lifes, Imogen Cunningham's pioneering work has garnered worldwide acclaim. One of the first women to make her living as a photographer, Cunningham consistently experimented with a wide range of techniques during her remarkable career. Ideas without End offers the first complete retrospective of 100 of her photographs -- the majority of which have never been published -- from her earliest efforts at the turn of the century to the many now-famous images. A biographical essay by Richard Lorenz, a chronology of Cunningham's life and work, and a bibliography are also included in this superb collection, at once a beautiful portfolio and an enduring tribute to a gifted and compelling artist.

Customer Reviews:

Imogen without End--.......2005-11-25

I can remember shedding some tears when Ms. Cunningham died. She was a hero of mine in the 70's when I was in college studying photography. This is a good overview of her work. Ms. Cunningham was never the greatest photographer of her generation, or any other. However, some of her photography is great. No, what made Ms. Cunningham great was the amazing length of her career and her willingness, until nearly the end of her life, to extend herself and experiment with new things. How many photographers have basically petered out when they have achieved some fame, to spend decades just printing their old work? Not Imogen--she indeed spoke with some bitterness near the end of her life about the unrecognized years in her career. She was unique, particularly for today--a woman who practiced environmental portraiture, going to people's homes and businesses to photograph them. She lived a lifestyle close to penury, yet her life can serve as an illustration to all of us exactly how little having money means to full and rich life. For me growing up, she showed how the love of photography can be separated from the preciousness of 'fine art'--all the while creating fine art. I'd recommend as a companion to this book, the volume "Portrait of Imogen", long out of print. It was compiled by Judy Dater, herself a fine photographer. It is a book of interviews with Imogen's contemporaries and a great insight into this complicated personality. In the end, and particularly after nearly thirty years since her death, Ms. Cunningham still earns notice as one of photography's greatest personalities.

An adventure.......2000-08-14

Ideas Without End provides a great introduction to Imogen Cunningham's work. It includes a short biography, but focuses mainly on the plethora of beautiful pictures, showing a wide selection of them. Cunningham's photos are the kind that draw you into them, and bring you to the realization that a flower is so much more than just a flower, that there is more to a body than just nudity, and that everyday items possess a beauty of their own. The format is a bit unhandy, but the contents more than make up for that. In short, the book is an experience not to be missed.

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"You might say I invented the nude."
Before Her Time
Fine Art Photography Finely Presented
Imogen at her finest
Imogen Cunningham's Pioneering Body Photography

Imogen Cunningham: On the Body
Richard Lorenz
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0821224387

Amazon.com

It's hard to imagine a young woman born in 1883, in the middle of the repressive Victorian era, who possessed absolutely none of the prissy, small-minded modesty of the 19th century. But that is Imogen Cunningham at age 23 in 1906, shooting a nude self-portrait in which "the smooth skin of her shoulders, derrière, and legs glows within the darker context" of the weedy landscape where she is sprawled. There is no artifice about the picture, but her pale form is nonetheless transformed into a "floating arcadian Venus," as author Richard Lorenz aptly describes the image. Most of Cunningham's nudes are identified by name: John Bovington 2, Eye of Portia Hume, Jane Foster, Lake Tenaya, as if to say, "I have used this body, but it belongs to its owner." To one nude model she wrote, "Aperture is putting out a monograph on my work, and YOU are in it. I did not ask you because I know that when you are a work of art, so called, you are no longer yourself." This is Lorenz's fourth book of carefully selected Cunningham photographs, and its subject gives it special resonance. (It includes a chronology and a selected bibliography.) In it, Lorenz quotes a last snippet of Cunningham's writing, found among her papers after she died, at 94: "For it is in this inadequate flesh that each of us must serve his dream, and so, must fail in the dream's service." Even into her 90s, Cunningham continued to love and limn the human body, creating uncommonly frank, deeply humane works of genius. --Peggy Moorman

Customer Reviews:

"You might say I invented the nude.".......2005-07-23

A bold statement for her to make, even when limited to the photographic nude. Earlier photos of people without clothes generally served scientific purposes (like Muybridge's), or salacious ones. The artistic, even abstract photographic nude may in fact be Cunningham's invention.

This samples Cunningham's career, from 1906 to 1976, from age 23 to the year of her death. That artistic longevity, if nothing else, is worthy of note. But the real strngth of the collection is in the photos themselves.

The abstract photos, like 'Helen' (plate 42) and 'Roi' (plate 34) are utterly literal and utterly baffling. Each is a simple picture, but shows just how complex the interaction of human figure and viewpoint can be. Many, like plates 44 and 51, are simple celebrations of form. One thing struck me, again and again. Modern photographers often present a figure that's made up and airbrushed to polyethylene perfection - something strangely inhuman. Cunningham captures the human animal more precisely, in the delicate down of feminine skin (plate 43), the scars that record events in a person's life (plates 49 and maybe 72), goosebumps (plate 27), even stretch marks on a woman richly pregnant (plate 98). These details add depth to Cunningham's work, offering something new at every level of detail in her pictures.

I highly recommend this collection, especially as it documents one of the visions that founded modern photographic style.

//wiredweird

Before Her Time.......2004-01-27

Imogen Cunningham brings to light an eye for the simplest beauty. The photographs contained within this book are diverse with studies in children, families, the male nude, the female nude, textures in nature and some in more familiar home environs. I am particularly fond of her portraits in the book as well as her fleshier pieces. She has absolutely beautiful composition and creates incredible foils for the human skin to be set off by. I love to use the book's photographs for reference when I am painting. It is an essential in my collection.

Fine Art Photography Finely Presented.......2002-07-18

The beauty of the works of Imogen Cunningham to this day remain staggering. Knowing that the photographs are early contributions to the genre of nude photography is even more amazing. Yes, compared to some of today's art photographers the poses may appear a bit static and stagey, but the quality of composition, of light and shadow, of clarity of vision is still hard to match. This is an historically important volume and one of great beauty. The accompanying essay is brief but sensitive and informative.

Imogen at her finest.......2001-10-18

It is astonishing to think that the images Imogen made came from such an early age in photography. Starting in 1906, Imogen made pictures of the human body that stand out as the finest today. These images have been lusciously reproduced in this book that plots the history and progress of Imogen through her career. What a pioneering career it must have been. The subjects of her lens were almost unheard of in those days where the showing of an ankle was scandalous. She makes no technical concessions whatever; each exposure is exactly in needle-sharp focus and rendered in smooth gradual tones of the highest quality process. She must have had strict discipline to technical detail to have consistently produced this quality of images, there is no other way. I would have loved to have known her. The things she could tell a fellow photographer must have been volumes. You cannot be disappointed by this book.

Imogen Cunningham's Pioneering Body Photography.......2001-04-28

This book deserves more than five stars for the remarkable quality of the images, the virtuousity across styles, and the pioneering inventiveness of its compositions.

On the Body contains much male, female, and child nudity of the sort that would mean that these images would be beyond what a motion picture could portray and still have an R rating. The images are done in a natural style that will remind many of the Jock Sturges work with children and young women.

Imogen Cunningham is quoted in this volume as asserting, "You might say I invented the nude." Before you dismiss this statement, you should realize that while she was an undergraduate at the University of Washington Ms. Cunningham did a self-portrait of herself nude in a meadow. The year was 1906. The composition and quality of the photograph reflect a sophisticated understanding of the body as an abstract shape. Ms. Cunningham is also famous (infamous in her day with some people) for her nudes of her husband, Roi Patridge, outdoors. She also brought a high level of taste to her subject at a time when many men were posing women in the nude more for the prurient interest than for the artistic values. Although modern nude photography has moved beyond her work in its inventiveness, the classical elements she portrays here are the sound foundation on which much of the best modern work is based.

Anyone who is a fan of 20th century photography should own this book. All Imogen Cunningham fans will find this book becoming the core of their collection of her images.

Although I personally prefer Ruth Bernhard's work, the best of Ms. Cunningham's work is just as winning. Ms. Cunningham works on a broader body of subjects, which makes this book far more interesting than most photography books. You will find studio work, nudes in landscapes, bits and pieces of individuals including many wonderful hand images, pregnant women nude, children playing naturally nude, and prominent people expressing their personalities in interesting ways. The book is a fine cross-section of all the styles that Ms. Cunningham used.

The book contained so many images that I liked that it is beyond what you would want to read for me to list them all. Let me mention a few though. A very high percentage of the works involving her husband nude outdoors are remarkably beautiful and inspiring. A series of outdoor nudes of Helene Mayer in Canyon de Chelly during 1939 are as beautiful a set of photographic images as I have seen. The hand photographs are quite remarkable, and will cause you to want to examine peoples' hands for the rest of your life. I especially liked her efforts to create a spiritual or transcendental style in the inventive works involving "Dream Walking" in 1968 and Morris Graves in 1973. These images seemed to foreshadow the type of work in Light Warriors.

To me, the most haunting works were a series of abstract partial nudes of women's torsos (usually more than one in an image) that formed a series of triangles. This perspective was transforming for me. I seldom think of the human body in terms of triangles. The triangles are references to the negative space outlined by the nudes.

After you view this wonderful volume, I suggest that you think about how our concepts of the human body limit photography, and how how concepts of photography limit our ability to appreciate the human body. Why is it that no one does studies of nostrils? Or elbows? Are they less worthy than hands?

Book Description

Imogen Cunningham, early feminist and master photographer, enjoyed a seventy-year career and fervently worked up until shortly before her death in 1976 at age 93. Both as a woman and an artist, Cunningham made some of the most outstanding historic contributions to fine art photography. Most known for her stunning close-ups of flowers ("Blumenformen"), Cunningham's first love was portraiture, from which she earned her living throughout most of her life. She also made great strides in nude photography, unfettered by the uproar caused by her first nude images in 1910.

Cunningham's daring and brilliant work helped establish photography as an art from. Becoming a photographer was a childhood dream that Cunningham pursued with passionate determination. During her career she photographed thousands of individuals, including a great number of celebrities, writers, and artists such as Herbert Hoover, Ansel Adams, Frida Kahlo, Man Ray, Gertrude Stein, and Cary Grant. Her style was unique, fired by a complex, sensitive, and imaginative vision and a never-ending desire to experiment (she never tired of trying alternative techniques, a favorite of hers being double exposure). Cunningham was not afraid to stand apart from the crowd, her sensual flowers and bold nudes- notably a nude of a pregnant woman from 1946, a photographic first- earning her great respect and admiration from her contemporaries, notably Edward Weston and Ansel Adams.

Imogen Cunningham: Life and Work 1883-1976 gathers together the best of her work from all her genres and includes an extensive illustrated biography and bibliography. Poetic and visionary, the remarkable work of Imogen Cunningham lives on this beautiful new book.

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I love Frida!

Frida Kahlo: Portraits 0f An Icon
Margaret Hooks , Florence Arquin , Lucienne Bloch , Lola Alvarez Bravo , Imogen Cunningham , Gisele Freund , Juan Guzm n , Fritz Henze , Antonio Kahlo , Guillermo Kahlo , Bernice Kolko , Leo Matiz , Martin Munkacsi , Nickolas Muray , Emmy Lou Packard , and Victor Reyes
Manufacturer: Turner
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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I Will Never Forget You...: Frida Kahlo to Nickolas Muray

Frida's Fiestas: Recipes and Reminiscences of Life with Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo: Brush of Anguish

The Life and Times of Frida Kahlo

Frida Kahlo: The Paintings

ASIN: 8475065643
Release Date: 2003-02-02

Book Description

From 1926 until her death in 1954, Mexican painter Frida Kahlo created striking, often shocking, images that reflected her turbulent life. One of four daughters born to a Hungarian-Jewish father and a mother of Spanish and Mexican Indian descent, in the Mexico City suburb of Coyoacn, Kahlo did not originally plan to become an artist. During her convalescence from a bus accident in her late teens, Kahlo began to paint with oils. Her pictures, mostly self-portraits and still-lifes, were deliberately naive, filled with the bright colors and flattened forms of the Mexican folk art she loved. At 21, Kahlo fell in love with the Mexican muralist Diego Rivera; their stormy, passionate relationship survived infidelities, the pressures of Rivera's career, a divorce and remarriage, and Kahlo's poor health. The couple traveled to the United States and France, where Kahlo met luminaries from the worlds of art and politics. She had her first solo exhibition at the Julien Levy Gallery in New York City in 1938 and enjoyed considerable success during the 40s, but her reputation soared posthumously, beginning in the 80s with the publication of numerous books about her work by feminist art historians and others. In the last two decades an explosion of Kahlo-inspired films, plays, calendars, and jewelry has transformed the artist into a veritable cult figure. Portraits of an Icon is not another book featuring Kahlo's beloved, tortured self-portraits. Rather, it offers another kind of portrait of the artist, a means of seeing her through the eyes of those who surrounded her: modern masters of the camera such as Edward Weston, Imogen Cunningham, Manuel Alvarez Bravo, and Martin Munkacsi; leading photojournalists such as Giselle Freund, Bernard Silberstein, and Fritz Henle; and Kahlo's relatives, lovers, and friends, among them Guillermo Kahlo, Nicolas Muray, and Lola Alvarez Bravo. The images span Kahlo's life, beginning with a photograph of a self-possessed chubby four-year-old, her fists full of wilting roses, and ending with the image of an emaciated, wasted figure laying on her deathbed, dressed in pre-Columbian finery. They follow the artist's trajectory from precocious child to famous artist, bringing into focus the painter, the paintings, the patient, the wife, the daughter, the lover, the friend. They permit a look into her bedroom, a seat at her table, a visit to her hospital room, a stroll through her garden, a view into her collections, and some play with her pets. While many of these images provide us with a unique opportunity to glimpse the woman behind the facade, others, though less revealing, are equally fascinating in allowing us to view one of the most intriguing of the artist's creations--the construction of a self-image as carefully crafted and conceived as any of her works of art.

Customer Reviews:

I love Frida!.......2005-06-21

This is a must have for Kahlo fans out there. She's talented. She's beautiful. She's fierce.

Imogen Cunningham: The Poetry of Form/Die Poesie Der Form

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Imogen Cunningham: The Poetry of Form/Die Poesie Der Form
Imogen Cunningham , Pradip Malde , and P. Celina Lunsford
Manufacturer: Edition Stemmle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3905514079

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Eclectic Styles and Some Riveting Portraits

Imogen Cunningham: Portraiture
Richard Lorenz
Manufacturer: Bulfinch
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0821227327

Book Description

Portraiture presents the artists first love and photographic speciality.

Customer Reviews:

Eclectic Styles and Some Riveting Portraits.......2001-04-30

The superb essay by Richard Lorenz explains the genesis of Ms. Cunningham's career, the influences on her work, how her styles developed, how she sought work, and the challenges that she faced as a person and as an artist. The essay is of such quality that it raises the overall value of the book. Two of Ms. Cunningham's weaknesses were tendencies to misuse shadow and to blur where clarity would have worked better. Many of the images in this book are marred by these routine flaws. On the other hand, there are enough rewarding works to make owning this volume a treat. You will probably find yourself strongly favoring a third of the images over the rest. If you are a fan of her nude work, I think you will find many of the portraits disappointing. I did like them better than the floral images she produced.

This book contains 208 duotone plates, 50 black and white images, and 13 color plates. All of the color plates looked a little peculiar. Something is off in the reproduction of them. It almost looked like an error in the color registration by the printer.

Ms. Cunningham's best efforts were generally of people in her family, or those she had great respect or affection for. When her connection to the person was modest, often the results were too. Generally, the more elaborate the composition, the better the result except when shadows were involved. For that reason, her outdoor portraits in full sun turned out best.

My favorite images in this book (as reproduced here) include:

My Father at Sixty, 1906; Mother and Child, Germany, 1909-1910; My Mother Peeling Apples, about 1910; The Dream, 1910; Roi Partridge, 1915; My Father, about 1918; Dane Coolidge, about 1921; Roger Sturtevant, about 1922; Sherwood Anderson, Writer 2, about 1923; Gertrude Gerrish, 1924; Henry Cowell, 1926; Portrait of Portia Hume, about 1930; Frances Dee, 1932; The Pareeckh Sisters from India, early 1930s; Robert Irwin, 1933; Alfred Stieglitz, 1934; Herbert Hoover 2, 1935; My Father at Ninety, 1936; Shen Yao, 1938; Edward Weston at Point Lobos 2, 1945; Woman in Sorrow, 1964; Brassai, 1973; Ansel Adams, Photographer 2, 1975; Morris Graves in His Leek Garden, 1972; Dr. Maria Kolisch, 1973; and Roi Patridge and Horse's Skull, 1975.

After you examine this book, I suggest that you think about what you want to learn and feel from a portrait. Do you want to know how the person liked to portray him or herself? Do you want to see a pawn within the photographer's style? Do you want to understand the person's personality? Then, go back and look at these images and think about what Ms. Cunningham has captured in each case.

As Mr. Lorenz says in his essay, even before a negative is retouched, "lighting manipulates and obfuscates reality," the "environmental context of the photograph modulates its connective power," and the "theatrics of makeup and costume alter fact and validate illusions." Where do you see these effects?

If you are like me, you will find the double exposure work interesting . . . capturing a sense of the fourth dimension of time. Many of the works will remind you of Marcel Duchamp's work, with which Ms. Cunningham was quite familiar.

Book Description

Flora showcases Cunninghams fascination with nature, with images that range broadly from simple floral arrangements to elaborate compositions of exotic ferns and lilies.

Customer Reviews:

Incredible photographer! Inferior Printing!!.......2006-01-09

Out of all of the members of the famous Group f/64, Imogen Cunningham created the greatest body of floral still life work. This beautiful collection of images has been totally undermined by a horrible press run. It's a surprise that Bulfinch would even put their name on this book. Aperture should have probably printed it. Granted, the book has a gorgeous design, and the body of work chosen for the book is definitely of her greatest masterpieces. But, when all is said and done, the print is solely the photographer's art, and poor reproductions of a photograph, especially a "Group f/64" style photograph, renders the art ineffective.

Great Choices of Subjects Marred by Poor Printing.......2001-04-23

Imogen Cunningham is one of my favorite photographers. So I was very disappointed when I saw the reproduction quality of the 92 duotone plates, 59 black-and-white photographs, and 8 color images. The ink is very heavy and dark on these succulent morsels, and almost all the images look like they are of vegetation from the vicinity of Mount St. Helens just after the eruption.

The book contains Ms. Cunningham's famous image of her husband undressed, so if such things offend you, skip over that page. The image is very small, so you'll hardly notice it unless you are looking hard for it.

The essay by Richard Lorenz is a fine one. It makes up for some of the reproduction problems. He captures the ambiguity of her work nicely in pointing out that the "paradox of expansion via reduction becomes vivid when one looks at the visual aspects of nature." This is the familiar fractal observation. Each level of detail is echoed in the next larger and smaller level of scale.

Stylistically, she "empowered her images by isolating her vegetation." What would be lost in a mass is curiously fresh and clear in solitary study. As a result, "negative space is as critical to the composition as the design elements." In fact, she "paralleled the objectivity of the Germans in her work" more so than any other Western photographer. Like Georgia O'Keeffe, she realized and portrays the erotic expressions in vegetation.

Here are my favorite images from the book (as reproduced here):

At Point Lobos, 1921 (like Weston); Thorn Apple, about 1921; Tree at Donner Pass, 1925 (like Weston); Calla, about 1925 (like an O'Keeffe); Colletta Cruciata 7, 1929; Flowering Cactus, about 1930; Calla with Leaf, about 1930; Blossom of Protea, 1935; Fuscha, 1940; Fireworks Plant, 1965; Araujia, 1953; Hand and Leaf of Voodoo Lily. The notes to each image contain horiticultural information.

Ms. Cunningham was "skeptical of physical beauty." Where does nature agree with her? Where can you gain by retaining skepticism, even as you enjoy beauty?

Don't give up on Ms. Cunningham's work. Just go look at it elsewhere!

Imogen's Imagination Floweth Over Again.......2000-06-19

The pictures are exquisite, her mind was constantly creating, and of course, her lens was always capturing... Imogen Cunningham has done it again with another magnificent collection of her images of life. A must-have for any Cunningham collector...

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Ok book
Six women who shaped photography
In Real Life
A Great Book About Women Photographers
Simple Introduction to Six Outstanding Women Photographers

In Real Life: Six Women Photographers
Leslie Sills
Manufacturer: Holiday House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0823417522

Customer Reviews:

Ok book.......2007-05-25

Not all the Photographers in this book are in the same level, this is a pity.
I would like to see photographers like Annie Leibovitz and Diane Arbus aside Cindy Sherman, Dorothea Lang and Imogen Cunningham In a book titled "six women Photographers"
I have no problem with the other artist work in this book at all, they are interesting but other Important Photographers that are missing, Are the real problem.
Is a nice book but not "a must have"

Six women who shaped photography .......2005-11-01

In Real Life: Six Women Photographers (NY: Holiday House, 2002) by Leslie Sills celebrates the accomplishments of six well-regarded shutterbugs: Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Lola Alvarex Bravo, Carrie Mae Weems, Elsa Dorman, and Cindy Sherman. The carefully selected subjects represent many generations, cultures, and artistic motives.

With its strong feminist tone, the biographies show the struggles of women who must often balance motherhood and career, and choose between financial security and artistic freedom. Reinforcing this notion of sisterhood, Sills often uses the pronoun "she" to refer to all artists.

A sculptor and author of two other biographies on female artists, Sills lends her creative expertise to the passages. Her voice is one of lyricism, a refreshing approach for a non-fiction work. A few mistakes do surface in the text. The word "mission" is spelled incorrectly and there are a few inconsistencies with the verb tense.

The title offers actual examples of their work too-from black and white still shots of the early 1900s to the more abstract camera work of modern-day photographers. These images bolster the ideas set forth in the text. Unfortunately, some major works are included in discussion, but the image is omitted.

Some basics about cameras and words of advice for novices are included. Additionally, an extensive bibliography suggests further reading. The index is comprehensive, spanning three pages.

Indeed, younger children will enjoy the vivid photography. Still, this book is best suited for a fifth-grade or sixth-grade student, as they are old enough to understand some of the more abstract concepts, such as photography as a form of self-expression.

In Real Life: Six Women Photographers makes a great addition to any school or public library. The slender volume speaks to amateur photographers, those interested in the history of art, and young female readers who embrace "girl power"-making it one of those more-bang-for-your-buck books.

In Real Life.......2001-01-29

I have thoroughly enjoyed Leslie Sill's previous books on artists, and now her latest book on photographers. They are wonderful outlines of artist's lives, their work, and how their past experiences have influenced the direction of their art. As an art teacher, I try to incorporate different ways of introducing my students to a wide range of work. Because these stories are so well-written and inspiring, I have designed large portions of my curriculum around Sill's past books and look forward to using this book as well. The stories are thorough, yet written in a way that the average person, who may not necessarily feel that they have a valid knowledge on art, could walk away from it with a new understanding and interest. And just the opposite, for someone who is innvolved in art, this book is beautifully put together and would be a valued part of any art book collection.

A Great Book About Women Photographers.......2001-01-14

When I first read this book, I was moved by these women's lives. I was amazed at how they persevered at their art through all the hardships of life. I find Leslie Sills an amazing writer. This is not the first book I have read by her. I also have the one about painters, and by reading both books I felt that I learned alot. Leslie Sills is an amazing artist herself, and her own life should be the subject of a book someday. I would recommend this book to anybody, but particularly to people interested in photography or art.

Simple Introduction to Six Outstanding Women Photographers.......2001-01-03

Knowing that women artists in all fields tend to suffer from a lack of public exposure, I took a look at this volume hoping to find some good work that I had not seen before. My hopes were rewarded when all six photographers proved to be talented, interesting, and stylistically different from each other . . . and four of them were new to me. With the two artists I knew before, the biographical essays added to my knowledge, making every aspect of the book a pleasant surprise.

The book is organized around the concept that "cameras do copy which is front of the lens . . . [but these images are also] creations of the artist's intention and unconscious mind."

The essays are especially rewarding for their balance in explaining the artists' family lives, their relationships with the men in their lives, how they started into photography, their technique, and descriptions of their aesthetic values. Leslie Sills is pleasantly succinct:

Imogen Cunningham: "liked to examine life closely" and focused on "shapes, textures, patterns" in nature. She also captured the "essence" of people.

Dorothea Lange: The camera was an "activist tool" which "revealed the sufering of thousands and motivated others to help" during the Depression.

Lola Alvarez Bravo: Captured the real "Mexico after the Mexican Revolution" occurred there.

Carrie Mae Weems: Showed the "complexities of being human" especially in "squelching stereotypes" and "honoring African-American culture."

Elsa Dorfman: "Celebrates humanity" with her oversized camera that captures people to look more naturally like themselves than photographs normally do.

Cindy Sherman: Sees the camera as an "instrument to copy her constructed scenes" which are "puzzles that challenge her audience."

It has not been easy to be a woman photographer and these women succeeded because they persevered, as well as because they were so talented. Their stories are as inspiring as any I have read, and also tell an interesting tale of how your work can help you express your inner self.

Here are my favorite images from the book:

Imogen Cunningham:

Magnolia Blossom, 1925

My Father at 90, 1936

Morris Graves, Painter, 1950

Dorothea Lange:

Migrant Mother, Nipomo, California, 1936 (Series of 3)

There is a wonderful description of how this series was shot on a day when Ms. Lange was exhausted and had driven past the migrant labor camp in the rain before deciding intuitively to turn back and try her luck.

Lola Alvarez Bravo:

Por culpas ajenas, c. 1945

Elsueno de los pobres 2, 1943

The Two Fridas, c. 1944

Carrie Mae Weems:

Mom at Work, 1978-1984

Untitled (Letter Holder), 1988-89

Her work also included long interviews with her family.

Elsa Dorfman:

Robbie and the Dinosaur Femur, 1970

Terri Terralouge and Aileen Graham, 1989

Cindy Sherman:

Untitled #224, 1990

Given that these styles are so different and so vivid, I encourage you to use this book to inspire you to create some art. It doesn't have to be photography. Whether you like to sketch, sculpt, paint, or make colored soap bubbles, give yourself the chance to live freer and take a little time to express yourself. You'll feel so much better, and the rest of us will be enriched by your gift.

Express yourself . . . to find yourself!

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