Thank you for this post. I value being introduced to talented photographers, so from that simple perspective this is a welcome article.

I draw enjoyment and inspiration from this type of post. At times a part of me is sometimes intimidated too — even the photography that doesn’t draw me sometimes reveals talent well beyond my reach. I also enjoy the simple fact that people who have had the courage to step into the world of being artists are gaining exposure.

Beyond all that, I am especially delighted that photographers who are women, or any other ‘category’ that has previously been overlooked or worse, is gaining exposure. Art often leads and drives change. For talent to be subdued or suppressed actively or by past norms is sad, and ugly. Changing this will take time. Thank you for being part of making this happen, and thank you to this site for leadership.

Keep going,
Stephen

Could you blog the five best film bloggers?

Best regards

Bernhard

James, I would give your response to this trolling post an infinite number of upvotes. Photography on the whole tends to be a real “sausage-fest” and the same has been true of many professions, hobbies, and passions over the years. Those include aviation, scientific research, military service, and politics just to name several. Gender representation in those areas have been and is changing however, which I think is a good thing. Moving toward equitable participation, treatment, appreciation, and recognition of the efforts of all photographers must include acknowledging the fact that women were long underrepresented.

When someone whines and complains about featuring the work of women photographers it smacks of sour grapes. The assertion that these women are being recognized for being women, and not because their work is worthy or praise, makes me think the OP feels somehow cheated. It’s almost as though the OP feels automatically entitled to the same recognition as the 5 female photographers in the article. In other words, it’s the photography equivalent of pushing the “All Lives Matter” response when confronted with the realities of what the BLM movement is trying to accomplish. It’s a coded response and we all know what it really means.

Please take a minute to look up Georgette Louise Mayer, AKA Dickey Chapelle. She was killed while on assignment with the US Marines in Viet Nam in 1965.
A remarkable life of a pioneering reporter & photographer.

Being a woman does not make one a better/worse photographer. The problem is being taken seriously, The bar is higher – women have to prove that they are far better than men. This is true in other domains. And sometimes they are considered not as good as their partners [e.g. Jackson Pollock/ Lee Krasner]

There are other female photographers who faced even more criticism/dismissal than contemporary photographers: Tina Midotti, Berenice Abbot, Margaret Bourke-White, Diane Arbus, Dorothea Lange, Hila Becher and Vivian Maeir, as well as contemporary photographers – Cindy Sherman, Utta Barth, Catherine Opie, Annie Leibovitz, Nan Goldin, Candida Höfer.

Photographers who not white also face similar prejudice – Gordon Parks, James Van Der Zee.

Gay photographers face a similar stigma [see the Magic Hour Podcast for interviews].

¿And if you’re a woman, non-white and a lesbian?

¿Is Instagram [Facebook] the best place to look for photographs? ¿Consider that that supports/enables a toxic empire