Cunningham

Approximately how long had photography been in existence by the end of the First World War?

About eighty years.

What was the central debate surrounding photography from its beginning as a medium?

Whether it was a fine art requiring skill or merely a mechanical recording device.

Which global movement from the 1890s to the early 1900s was crucial in establishing the idea of artistic photography?

Pictorialism.

In which decade did the influence of Pictorialism begin to decline?

The 1910s.

Name two innovative European art movements that embraced photography as a crucial part of their visual experimentation.

Constructivism, Dada, and Surrealism (any two).

Photographers from the 1910s through the 1930s increasingly pushed the boundaries of the medium by experimenting with _, lighting, and focus.

cropping

Where was photographer Imogen Cunningham born in 1883?

Portland, Oregon.

What subject did Imogen Cunningham major in at the University of Washington?

Chemistry.

What was the title of Imogen Cunningham's university thesis?

"The Scientific Development of Photography."

In a 1913 essay, what did Imogen Cunningham argue remained important for photographers despite photography becoming less technically demanding?

Technological and chemical expertise.

Beginning in what year did Imogen Cunningham move away from Pictorialist styles?

1923

What subjects did Imogen Cunningham focus on when she began experimenting with close-cropped, sharply focused images?

Botanical specimens.

Cunningham's move toward sharply focused images of plants was likely inspired by photographers from what country?

Germany.

What was the name of the German photography movement that Cunningham's work drew inspiration from?

New Objectivity.

What type of imagery, associated with German Expressionism, did the New Objectivity movement shy away from?

Overly emotional and dramatic imagery.

What was the primary goal of the New Objectivity movement in photography?

To return to purely "objective" recording without intervention or manipulation from the photographer.

Name one of the German photographers associated with the New Objectivity movement who influenced Cunningham.

Albert Renger-Patzsch or Franz Roh.

Through what publication did Imogen Cunningham view the works of German New Objectivity photographers like Renger-Patzsch?

Magazines such as Das Deutsche Lichtbild (German Photography Annual).

In what year were ten of Cunningham's photographs, including Leaf Pattern, accepted into the "Film und Foto" exhibition?

1929

In which German city was the important New Objectivity exhibition "Film und Foto" held?

Stuttgart.

How did photographer Edward Weston describe Imogen Cunningham's 1920s work, fitting the ideals of New Objectivity?

"She uses her medium, photography, with honesty—no tricks, no evasion: a clean cut presentation of the thing itself."

What was the name of the California-based photography group that Cunningham exhibited with in the 1930s?

Group f/64.

What does the name "Group f/64" refer to?

A setting on the large-format cameras they used, specifically the f-stop.

What does the camera setting f/64 allow for in an image?

Sharpness across the entire focal depth (the distance of pictured objects from the lens).

Besides Cunningham and Edward Weston, name one other member of Group f/64.

Alma Lavenson, Consuelo Kanaga, Ansel Adams, or Willard Van Dyck.

The visual style of Group f/64 was crisply focused, tightly cropped, and often dramatically lit with extreme contrasts between deep blacks and highly exposed ____.

whites

In his essay "Seeing Photographically," what did Edward Weston identify as a unique element of photography?

Its "instantaneous recording process," "precision … in the recording of fine detail," or continuous shading "of infinitely subtle gradations from black to white."

In what two ways is Cunningham's Leaf Pattern distinctively modernist?

Its high contrast and its exploration of its subject as pure form.

In the analysis of Leaf Pattern, is the leaf itself considered important?

No; the interesting shapes of its serrations and the dramatic shadows are what give the composition visual interest.

According to fellow f/64 member Willard Van Dyck, Cunningham's work was a reaction against what practice in Pictorialism?

The manipulation of the photographic image, such as adding hand-drawn elements or colors.

Willard Van Dyck stated that modern photography had to be "straight," "sharp and clean," and what else?

"Absolutely photographic."

What did Willard Van Dyck mean by the term "photographic"?

The work should take advantage of the medium's unique qualities: its machine-made quality, ability to capture detail, and existence as a chemical reaction.

In what way is a work like Leaf Pattern still considered "manipulated" by the artist?

The artist selected the subject, background, arrangement, lighting, and cropping.

In Leaf Pattern, Cunningham chose a middle ground, giving enough detail for the object to be decoded as a leaf, but cropping it closely enough to the frond.

decontextualize

What effect does the close cropping in Leaf Pattern have on the viewer's perception of scale?

There is no sense of scale; the leaf could be anywhere from a few inches to a few feet long.

What was the ultimate goal of modernist photographers like Van Dyck and Weston in breaking away from Pictorialism?

To find a pure exploration of visual form through the medium of the camera.

Was Imogen Cunningham associated with Group f/64 for a long or short time?

A short time.

What type of photography did Cunningham shift to later in her career?

Portrait photography and commissions for popular magazines.

Name one of the popular magazines Imogen Cunningham did commission work for later in her career.

House and Garden or Life.

In what year did Imogen Cunningham pass away?

1976

Term: Pictorialism

A global photography movement from c. 1890-1915 that argued for photography to be accepted as a fine art, often by manipulating images to resemble paintings.

Term: New Objectivity

A German movement in photography that shied away from emotional, dramatic imagery and tried to return to purely objective recording without photographer manipulation.

Term: Group f/64

A group of California-based photographers in the 1930s who promoted a style that was crisply focused, tightly cropped, and free from manipulation.

What is the technical significance of the f-stop f/64 on a large-format camera?

It controls the lens's opening to be very small, which allows for images with sharpness across a great depth of field.

How did Imogen Cunningham's background in chemistry support her early photographic work?

It provided scientific knowledge of the chemicals used in developing photographs, which was more critical for success in the early 1900s.

The experimental photographic work of the 1910s-1930s focused on pushing the boundaries of photographic materials and ____.

techniques

The rise of _ in the 1890s led to the idea of artistic photography becoming more entrenched and accepted by art critics.

Pictorialism

What was the primary argument of detractors who claimed photography was not a fine art?

That it was merely a mechanical recording device.

Cunningham's close-cropped images of botanical specimens were a departure from her earlier _ style.

Pictorialist

Who was the unofficial leader of Group f/64 and the West Coast modernist photographers?

Edward Weston.

What was the visual effect of Group f/64's preference for dramatic lighting?

Extreme contrasts between deep, velvety blacks and highly exposed whites.

According to Willard Van Dyck, modernist photography was a reaction against the manipulation that occurred in _ practice.

Pictorial

What visual information is absent from Leaf Pattern that prevents the viewer from knowing its context?

The rest of the plant it belonged to and any sense of scale.

The goal of photographers like Cunningham was to break away from the representation and _ of Pictorialism.

narrative

Cunningham's choice of how to arrange the leaf and how lighting would create contrast are examples of the ____ still present in her work.

manipulation

Who described Imogen Cunningham's work as having "no tricks, no evasion"?

Edward Weston.

The photographers of the New Objectivity movement were from what country?

Germany.

What was the subject of Albert Renger-Patzsch's images that Cunningham saw in German magazines?

Plants.

Imogen Cunningham grew up mostly in which Washington city?

Seattle.

What quality did Willard Van Dyck argue was special to the medium of photography and should be embraced?

Its machine-made quality.

The assertion that a photograph is a "chemical reaction of elements on light-sensitive materials" emphasizes its nature as being free from what?

Arbitrary additions or interventions from the artist.

The aesthetic of Group f/64 was similar to what European art movement?

German New Objectivity.

The text states that in Leaf Pattern, the leaf itself is not important, but rather the interesting _ that its serrations form.

shapes

What visual elements in Leaf Pattern contribute most to its dramatic quality?

The high, dramatic shadows cast by the leaf's arrangement.

What were the innovative movements that embraced photography as a crucial part of their visual experimentation after Pictorialism declined?

Constructivism, Dada, and Surrealism.