December 2006
First Take: Indelible Imogen Print
Imogen Cunningham, 1907
ŠThe Imogen Cunningham Trust
Nearly three-quarters of a century before the phenomenon of “streaking” struck American colleges, Imogen Cunningham, 1907, was baring it all on the UW campus. (Of course, some parts of the campus afforded quite a bit of privacy back then.) The daring Cunningham, a chemistry student when she posed for this self-portrait exactly a hundred years ago, would go on to become one of America’s most celebrated (and provocative) photographers. The University named her Alumna Summa Laude Dignata in 1974.