Myra Albert WIGGINS (1869-1956) – At the turn of the 20^th century, the photographer Myra Albert Wiggins was one of the leading representatives of pictorialism – the first artistic movement in the history of the medium – in the United States. Originally from Salem, Oregon, she moved to New York in the early 1890s, where she studied painting at the Art Students League while also becoming a member of the city’s Camera Club and Society of Amateur Photographers. Before she returned to her native region, Wiggins formed a relationship of mutual respect with Alfred Stieglitz, who invited her to join the Photo-Secession group ten years later, in 1903. Although in the meantime her distance from the East Coast did not prevent her from gaining recognition in a number of exhibitions, this integration into the American pictorialist elite confirmed her national and international stature. On the other hand, the geographical isolation caused by her move to Washington State in 1907 proved detrimental to her photographic inspiration. From the beginning of the following decade, painting absorbed most of her creativity and commitment, culminating in 1930 with the founding of the association of Women Painters of Washington.