Imogen: The Life and Work of Imogen Cunningham

An artist’s joy for photography resounds in this absorbing picture book biography of Imogen Cunningham (1883–1976), penned by granddaughter Partridge. The warmth-filled work emphasizes Cunningham’s childhood love of the outdoors and her close, supportive relationship with her father. Early forays into drawing and painting led to experiments with photography, in which Cunningham finally finds the artistic medium she’d been seeking: “There it was, right in the photographs, all the soft cadence of the poetry, all the beauty, all the feelings she carried deep inside her.” Throughout digitally colored ink illustrations, Shimizu includes throwback textures such as Ben Day–like dots. Scenes of Cunningham draw on the artist’s actual photographs, some reproduced in back matter, while pensive text persuasively expresses how “people stood and stared and felt all the joy and longing and wonder that Imogen had captured.” Extensive back matter includes an author’s note. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)