So for this last entry, I am going to have a bit of fun and play off of the main image (lake) with commentary on the attached one. I was never able to figure out how Cunningham and Foster met, or how close they were. But regardless, they're both women who were occupying a creative space that was generally held by men. Cunningham was a photographer and Foster a painter (and maybe also a spy?), so there was likely a deep bond there -- even if it was only on a professional or creative level.

In the image for this entry, Cunningham’s presence is felt and (finally) seen in comparison to the main exhibit photo, where she just "appeared" as a shadow with Jane. Alice, on the other hand, is likely Foster's model for one or both of the paintings in the photo. But there's some fun metacommentary (?) here: Cunningham with her model Foster, who perhaps is with her model, Alice. Layers. Like an onion. What does this mean? Probably nothing.

Or: if Alice is not one of the models immortalized by Jane’s brush, who is she in the photo? Could one of the shadows that appear in this photo be of someone named Alice who was in the room with Foster and Cunningham? This final picture was chosen by me because it seemed like an evolution from the first photo “of” Cunningham and Foster.

There are all sorts of philosophical rabbit holes (or maybe entrances to Plato's Cave) that I can get my foot stuck into here and fall over with, but I’ll leave while I'm ahead. Is a shadow a representation of a person, or is it the person?

Image Source:

Cunningham, Imogen. Jane and Alice and Imogen. 1940. https://www.imogencunningham.com/artworks/categories/51/2248-imogen-cunningham-jane-and-alice-and-imogen-1940/ Links to an external site. Accessed 22 Apr. 2023.