Magnolia Blossom
マグノリアの花
- Birth Year
- 1883
- Death Year
- 1976
- Date
- 1925 (printed later)
- Technique, Material, Format
- gelatin silver print
- Dimension
- 25.2 x 32.6 cm
- Category
- Photograph or Moving Image by ForeignPhotographer/Artist
- Inventory Number
- 82-PHF-160
Imogen Cunningham was one of America’s most famous female photographers of the first half of the 20th century. Across a range of genres including portraits, nudes and still lifes, she made works that use the contrast between light and shade to tease out the individuality of her motifs. She is best known for her close-up photographs of plants, which she began in the 1920s, and this picture is one of her most famous.
The magnolia flower is made to fill up the entire image. Focusing her lens on the stamens and pistils in the center, she captures their shapes in all their complexity. Meanwhile, the slightly blurred petals provide a sense of softness and expansiveness. Stare long enough and it feels like you are entirely enveloped by this one tiny flower.
(MATSUNAGA Shintaro)