In 1907, Imogen Cunningham graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in chemistry. Since these were the days long before anyone could be a photographer, she would have concentrated on photography processing and the chemicals used during the era when writing her thesis. Her interest in photography began when she was 18 years old, but wasn't solidified until 1906. Following her graduation, she spent time honing her craft and lived in Dresden (Germany), Seattle (Washington), and San Francisco (California). In a time when women were expected to be not much more than baby factories, it shows just how driven Cunningham was that she not only attended college, but studied a real subject -- like chemistry -- to earn her degree. It also demonstrates that she had the intelligence required to study in this field, but that her family had the means to pay for her studies.
Her graduation would have marked the start of a long career which continued until her 1976 death. During her travels and work, she was able to meet many other creative types, and spent time photographing them. One of her models was the painter Jane Foster (later Zlatovski), and her 1939 photo in the next portion of this timeline of her is the cornerstone of this exhibit.
This image (1909) was chosen for several reasons. It is notable that Cunningham was both the model of the portrait and the photographer. It's a selfie! But really, the the main one is to illustrate how women as a whole were expected to present themselves in that era. Cunningham's visage holds a dour expression and her hair is pinned up. Her (likely) heavy and uncomfortable dress fabric is crowned at the neck with a high, possibly starched, collar that would have been in vogue in the Victorian Era. The focal point of her neck area is an oval pendant that would have been worn by women of a certain class in this time.
Image Source:
Cunningham, Imogen. (untitled self-portrait). 1909. Viewed 19 Apr 2023.