Beginning with Imogen Cunnigham and moving on towards three modern photographers, Sills sets the stage for a well researched and documented visual timeline of women photographers within art history. Her excitement for the subject is clear with each essay and it lends itself to the reader to make for an overall enjoyable reading experience.
Imogen Cunnigham (1883-1976)
Imogen made a name for herself by staging what she photographed – she pioneered the idea that photography could be stylized art as opposed to pictorial evidence of real life. Sills includes biographical information that draws the reader into Imogen's work and her contributions to the field that have a direct corralation to the work of Georgia O'Keefe at the time. In her later years, Cunnigham turned to documentary street photography and went on to accept a faculty position that Ansel Adams offered her at the California School of the Arts.
Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)
Lange is best known for her photograph, Migrant Mother, that would go on to appear in National Geographic. Her work would be deemed "documentary" as her subject matter revolved around the dust bowl, the plight of the sharecropper and the Great Depression. According to several press releases, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver announced on May 28, 2008 that Lange will be inducted into the California Hall of Fame, located at The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts.
Lola Alvarez Bravo (1907-1993)
Bravo photographed a post-revolution Mexico, one that she wanted people to see and be proud of. Her artistic expression can be related back to her friendships with painters, including Frieda Kahlo. She would go on to experiment in photomontage and photograph some of the world's greatest leaders. In her later years, she also taught to support herself following her seperation from her husband despite having kept his last name.
Modern Photography
Unlike the historical figures that Sills wrote deep and informative biographies for, she failed to do so when it comes to the three modern photographers that she includes in her compilation. Carrie Mae Weems' contributions to African American photography, Elsa Dorfman's observance of everyday life and Cindy Sherman's fabulously staged self-portraits add greatly to the book, but had Sills gone into further depth with each women and her work, the book would have only benefitted thereby creating a stronger look at an industry that has had many great pioneers and more yet to come.
In Real Life: Six Women Photographers by Leslie Sills is available for purchase through Holiday House
with ISBN 0823417522.
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