Cunningham decided to become a photographer at an early age and photography became not just her livelihood, but her life. As a University of Washington undergraduate Cunningham purchased a 4 x 5-inch camera and developed photographs in the family’s converted woodshed. At the time, there was no photography instruction at the UW or most universities, so Cunningham majored in chemistry, then traveled to Dresden to study photography.

Returning to Seattle, she worked at the studio of the famed photographer of the American West, Edward Curtis, before opening her own portrait studio.

Imogen Cunningham became one of the first female professional photographers and a major contributor to the development of photography as an art form.