How do you become a successful portrait photographer? According to Imogen Cunningham, “You must be able to gain an understanding at short notice and at close range of the beauties of character, intellect, and spirit, so you can draw out the best qualities and make them show in the face of the sitter.” Cunningham would often engage her sitters in conversation until they relaxed or ask them to think of the nicest thing they could imagine. She resisted indulging their vanity, and “face-lifting” was her word for the type of portrait work that required beautification—in her estimation an obstacle to a good likeness. This photograph is on view in the Getty Center exhibition "Imogen Cunningham: A Retrospective" through June 12. . . . 🏷️ #GettyMuseum #GettyCenter #Photography #Art #OnView #Analogue #Camera #ArtistLife #FridaKahlo #ImogenCunningham #FemaleArtists #Portraits #Portraiture