Imogen: The Mother of Modernism and Three Boys

Imogen’s family didn’t have much, and life was hard atop the wild hill they call home. But when Imogen declared she wanted to be a photographer, her father built her her very own darkroom. Flash forward. Imogen is a photographer and a mother. She has her hands full! How does she do it all? She turns the garden into a wonderland for her three growing boys and a workshop for herself. While she works, her boys play, and Imogen photographs them. Click. Click. Click. Photographing her sons leads Imogen to focus on plants and flowers — most notably her signature magnolia blossoms—for which she will become best known.

Here, then, is the story of Imogen Cunningham, one of the finest photographers of the 20th century and mother to three boys.