Imogen cunningham self portrait on geary st

Self-Portrait on Geary Street; 1958; Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883 - 1976); Gelatin silver print; Image: 23.3 × 17.5 cm (9 3/16 × 6 7/8.!

The dynamic interplay of transparent store windows and reflections animates this self-portrait by Imogen Cunningham, taken along Geary Street in San Francisco.

As “History of Twentieth Century Art” student Emily McLain notes in this week’s post, photographer Imogen Cunningham is best known for her semi-abstract floral photographs of the 1920s. (Indeed, our blog post on her Magnolia Blossom has consistently been the most-read post since it went up four years ago.) But in this post, McLain takes a closer look a photograph from much later in the photographer’s career: one with an edgier, less straightforwardly beautiful take on abstraction.

Cunningham is known for being one of the greatest American photographers and had one of the longest careers of the medium.

She was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1883 and lived in the Pacific Northwest most of her life. She obtained her first camera in 1901 for $15 and explored many subjects until she passed away in 1976.

This print from the Imogen Cunningham Trust is made in the traditional darkroom from Imogen's original negative.

The Imogen Cunningham collection consists of thirty gelatin silver photographs, mounted, with label, signed and dated by the photographer, and three platinum.

Self-Portrait on Geary Street; 1958; Imogen Cunningham (American, 1883 - 1976); Gelatin silver print; Image: 23.3 × 17.5 cm (9 3/16 × 6 7/8.

Imogen Cunningham Self Portrait on Geary Street 1959.

During the 1950s Cunningham walked urban environments photographing abandoned storefronts and decayed buildings.

Much of Cunningham’s work is comprised of studies of nudes and plant forms. The floral images she produced in the 1920s remain her most famous work. Later i