Laura Wilson (photographer)

Laura Cunningham was born and raised in Norwell, Massachusetts, a suburb of Boston. She is the daughter of Rosemary Cunningham (née White; 1908–2002) and Edward James Cunningham (1905–1973). She had one older sister named Sheila (1933–1998). She majored in art at Connecticut College for Women, graduating in 1961. Wilson was drawn to photography as a young girl when she became interested in family photographs. Some of her earliest photographs are of her three young sons: "I had majored in painting in college. But with three active little boys, I didn't have time to paint. My uncle, Jack Cunningham, gave me a camera. I realized at once that the boys were perfect subjects." Wilson's son Owen credits his and his brothers' comfort in front of a camera to being frequently photographed by their mother. Wilson traveled with Avedon for six years, helping him find subjects to photograph. She also wrote the text for In the American West. Wilson's work with Avedon helped her become deeply familiar with the West and provided inspiration for her later projects. "I became interested in men and women who are trying to live an idealized life against the odds." and the University of Texas at Austin. She is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters and the Philosophical Society of Texas. She serves on the board of the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin; Humanities Texas; Meadows Museum; and William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies at Southern Methodist University. In 2019, she was inducted into the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame. ==Books==

Wilson has completed seven books of photography and text: Watt Matthews of Lambshead (1989) is a photographic essay about one of the last Texas cattlemen. Matthews lived his entire life on the famous Lambshead Ranch, located west of Fort Worth. Hutterites of Montana (2000) documents the Hutterite communities of the American West. Wilson's interest in the Hutterites began during her work with Avedon: "Still vivid in my mind is my first glimpse of the Hutterites. We were driving in Montana at dusk. There was a lovely pink sunset. We saw in the distance an open meadow of wheat, and far off, figures walking. The girls were in long, colorful dresses, like Christian LaCroix, the boys in white shirts and black pants." Hutterite communities generally do not allow photography, but Wilson visited Montana Hutterite communities many times and eventually received permission to take photos. Wilson documented Avedon's process throughout the six years they spent working on the project, and the book describes this work. “In this jewel of a book, Laura Wilson reveals the energy and thrill of the six-man game and the visceral, rough-edged culture in which it is played and cherished.” That Day: Pictures in the American West (2015) includes photographs in the American West accompanied by Wilson's observations from the time each photograph was taken. Larry McMurtry wrote, "Laura Wilson has an ever-searching eye for the bleak beauty of the West — and for its bleak reality too. That Day is a remarkable book." Andrew R. Graybill, Director of the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, noted that the book "combines her talents for capturing the West's enduring and romantic myths, from legendary cattle ranches to dramatic panoramic vistas, as well as its bleak realities, whether undocumented migrants crossing the Rio Grande or life on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation." Rodin to Plensa: Modern Sculpture at the Meadows Museum (2018) includes works by many of the leading twentieth-century Modernists in the sculpture collection of the Meadows Museum in Dallas, Texas. Large- and small-scale works by Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, Isamu Noguchi and Claes Oldenburg can be seen on the Museum's welcoming outdoor plaza, while important figural sculptures by Auguste Rodin, Aristide Maillol and Alberto Giacometti are on display within the Museum. This is the first publication on this collection, offering photography by Laura Wilson and new scholarship by Steven A. Nash on works by some of the most accomplished artists to work in three dimensions. The Writers: Portraits by Laura Wilson (2022) Inspired by the classic photo essays that once appeared in Life magazine, Laura Wilson presents portraits of thirty-eight internationally acclaimed writers. Through her photos and accompanying texts, she gives us glimpses into the everyday lives of such figures as Rachel Cusk, Edwidge Danticat, David McCullough, Haruki Murakami, and the late Carlos Fuentes and Seamus Heaney, among others. Margaret Atwood works in her garden. Tim O’Brien performs magic tricks for his family. And Louise Erdrich, who contributes an introduction, speaks with customers in her Minneapolis bookstore. The book reflects on writing and photography’s shared concerns with invention, transformation, memory, and preservation. The collection consists of 220 duotone images. ==Personal life==

Wilson married TV station executive Robert Wilson in 1963, and the couple moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1965. She married Scot Dykema in 2020. Together they live in Dallas, Texas. ==Publications==

• Watt Matthews of Lambshead. Texas State Historical Association, 1989. . • Hutterites of Montana. Yale University Press, 2000. . • Avedon at Work: In the American West. University of Texas Press, 2003. . • Grit and Glory: Six-Man Football. Bright Sky Press, 2003. . • Our Architecture: Arts & Humanities DFW/2012. Dallas, Tex.: Dallas Architecture Forum, 2012 • That Day: Pictures in the American West. Yale University Press, 2015. . • From Rodin to Plensa: Modern Sculpture at the Meadows Museum. Scala Arts Publishers Inc, 2018. . • The Writers: Portraits by Laura Wilson. Yale University Press, 2022. . ==Exhibitions==

• Watt Matthews of Lambshead, Irving Arts Center, 1994 • Photographs from Avedon at Work, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, Fort Worth, Texas, September 2005 • Photographs from Grit & Glory, Meadows Museum, Southern Methodist University, 2011 • That Day: Laura Wilson, Amon Carter Museum of American Art, September 2015 – February 2016 • That Day: Laura Wilson, Booth Western Art Museum, January 2018 – April 2018 • Laura Wilson: Looking West, National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame, October 3, 2019 – March 15, 2020 • The Writers: Portraits by Laura Wilson, Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas at Austin August 27 – December 30, 2022 • The Writers: Portraits by Laura Wilson, Lake Forest College October 5 – November 5, 2023 ==References==