PHOTOGRAPHS
Cunningham, Imogen
U.S. (1883 - 1976)
On Mt. Rainier 2
1915
Platinum print
7 5/16 x 9 9/16 in. (18.6 x 24.3 cm) image and sheet size; 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm) board size
Joseph and Elaine Monsen Photography Collection, gift of Joseph and Elaine Monsen and The Boeing Company
FA 97.46

These two photographs [with HAG Acc. # 2007.33] are by mother and son Imogen Cunningham and Rondal Partridge, yet are separated by many years. Cunningham’s photograph depicts her husband at the time, the Seattle printmaker Roi Partridge (Rondal Partridge’s father), posed on Mt. Rainier.

Platinum Print -- Patented in 1873, this contact method of printing uses paper coated with a platinum solution. The paper is put in contact with a negative and exposed to a source of ultraviolet light, usually the sun, for several minutes until the reaction of the light with light sensitive salts in the solution produces a faint image. After this exposure, the image is developed by immersing the paper in a chemical bath that dissolves the salts and catalyzes the platinum. This process is well known for creating long lasting, lightfast images that display a range of subtle tones. -- Label copy for Outta My Light! Picturing the Process of Photography, December 5, 2008 to May 3, 2009.