From the beginning of photography and for many years, this field closed its doors to women. Many of them worked alongside their husbands or fathers. And although they went down in history as photographers, they remained wives or daughters, and their great contribution was not even mentioned.
Today the situation has been reversed. It is comforting to note that the list of women photographers is extensive and that women throughout the ages have been able to leave their mark.
Photography from its beginnings to the 1950s
In its early days, photography was used as research ONLY
allowed to capture moments, movements in images, to be able to observe things that with the perception of the human eye are not possible to see, or perhaps to maintain intact moments in the memory.
Photography could be used to investigate the human body and its movements. The speed of action, the action in movement, the memory in movement and its infinity of details.
Then came the concept of the enchanted look, an idea that corresponds to the emotional and fantasy side of photography where you can combine sequences of images with music to enjoy a story of something unreal.
The position that women have today in the field of photography was an achievement that was won through long years of struggle.
The first woman photographer was the famous Anna Atkins (1799-1871).
She studied botanology at a time when access to science and studies was almost impossible for women. In 1841 he contacted Talbot, an English photographer who was a friend of his father, and immediately learned of the possibilities that photography could offer for scientific research. His first book was British Algae: Impresiones de Cyanotipia. Many of his photos are preserved today.
Many people recognize the name of Robert Capa, but not so many will recognize the name of photographer Gerda Taro (1910-1937). Too often she is named as Taro’s partner, after fleeing from Germany and the Hitler regime, she went into exile in Paris where she met Capa. He got a job at Maria Eisner’s Alliance Photo agency and, together with his partner, started selling his images. Then they traveled to Spain in 1936 where they documented all the horror of the civil war.
Both published their photos under the Capa brand, however, to this day it is not known exactly which images were taken by their partner and which were of her. After his tragic death, Capa published a book dedicated to Taro, with photographs of both of them -Death in the Making, but his authorship is not recorded.
The list of women photographers who have hidden behind some man’s name… is exhaustive.
In our century, women are very present in photography, and the rivalries are fading and leaving the possibility of a united work where everyone has something to contribute.
Today photography is considered as an artistic activity and not so much as a research activity. Women have demonstrated to society that we are able with great talent to capture those unique instincts… talent and art to interpret images in different ways.
There are so many wonderful photographers that it would be impossible to name them all.
I’ll name three women who have a very different art, but who are very successful with their art.
One of them is Annie Leibovitz, the highest paid photographer in the world. She is the principal photographer of the Rolling Stones and author of the emblematic photograph of John Lennon with Yoko Ono, which was on the cover of the magazine. She is well known for her photography of celebrities and fashion magazines but she also did landscape photography for documentaries. Multipurpose with a very particular style, photographer of the fantasy and the picturesque. She was named the most influential photographer of our time by American Photo magazine.
His photographic works seem to be painted and have a very particular charm, with many details and are very rich. Everything is interesting from the background landscape to the expression on people’s faces. It’s like capturing an instant, and making it so rich that we can interpret the whole story behind the photograph.
They are very exciting photographs that make you dream.
Another outstanding photographer, but with a very different style from Annie Leibovitz, is Isabel Muñoz. Española, born in 1951, Muñoz revolutionized the world of photography. His photos are beautiful, strong and full of meaning. He has a versatile work but all his photos share that sensitivity, that honesty of life on all continents.
In his famous exhibition called Childhood he shows us his vision of the world. He wanted to give through these photographs a message of hope for our future, because children are our future, they are the hope of this world. No photos were photoshopped.
Isabel Muñoz wanted to keep the authenticity of the captured moment so that the message would be more assimilated. She made the decision that most of the photographs are portraits so that the viewer can enter into connection with the image, can read the children’s eyes, their thoughts, their pains, their joys, the innocence.
In order to generate a dialogue, the photographer also used videos where children from all countries were interviewed to see the different opinions. Isabel Muñoz is an artist who defends human rights through her art and who respects the nature of the human race. His images are very moving and have a lot of meaning.
In conclusion, I can say that the women photographers had to go a long way to be recognized in this field. The result of so much effort has been revolutionary.
The women photographers have managed to do a great job in marking reality, sensitivity, moving and raising awareness of societies.
Today photography is an art and women are part of it. Men and women have different ways of being, expressing themselves and showing their own vision of the world. In my opinion, women like Isabel Muñoz or Annie Leibovitz have marked the history of photography.
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