In photojournalism, fashion and nearly every other corner of photography, women have made fantastic inroads to become pioneers and innovators in every microcosm of modern-day photography. Still, being female in what remains in many ways an industry still dominated by existing patriarchy is no easy task, and that’s what makes outstanding female photographers all the more impressive.
Women throughout modern history have made names for themselves capturing the world around us through photography, so there are a great many that deserve honoring. Here, though, are our five favorite female photographers throughout history.
Annie Liebovitz (born 1949)
Annie Liebovitz is a Jewish-American portrait photographer who became Rolling Stone’s chief photographer at the age of 24. During her 10 year stint in the role, her celebrity portraiture work came to define the magazine’s style, and she would take iconic photos of the ‘70s biggest names in music. Perhaps most notable was her Rolling Stone cover photo of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, taken just hours before he was shot and killed.
Diane Arbus (1923-1971)
Diane Arbus had some of the most unique and compassionate subject matter in portraiture photography. She became famous for photographing people that others shied away from: marginalized and traditionally “ugly” groups such as dwarfs, circus performers, giants, transgender people and others that society deemed strange.
Her photography career was long and varied. She evolved from a commercial fashion photographer to one known for intimate portraiture, where she would familiarize herself with her subjects over long periods of time.
After taking her own life in 1971, her exhibit of marginalized subjects, Diane Arbus Revelations, became the first photography exhibit to be displayed at Venice Biennale, a renowned visual art exhibition.
Sally Mann (born 1951)
Sally Mann proves that self-taught photographers can capture just as much beauty and significance as any classically trained photographer. Although she began working with large format film cameras at a young age, she has “never” read about photography.
She rose to fame with her publication, At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women, and the more controversial Immediate Family, in which she photographed her three young children. All under the age of 10, several photos portrayed the children nude, which detractors claimed amounted to child pornography. Mann says she was capturing the children in their natural, childlike state, and that the photos were far from suggestive.
Her later work included more large format landscape photography, as well as photography that explored themes of death, illness and isolation. Her latest work, Hold Still: A memoir with Photographs, released just last year, is an examination of her own upbringing and influences.
Dorothea Lange (1895-1965)
Dorothea Lange humanized one of the most trying times in American history, the Great Depression. A documentary photographer and photojournalist, Lange was a Columbia-educated photographer who stuck to the studio until the Great Depression drew her to the field.
From breadlines to homeless camps, Lange captured striking portraits of the struggles Americans faced every day in the 1930s. Among her most famous works was “Migrant Mother” (pictured below), taken in 1936. She also worked for the Resettlement Administration and the Farm Security Administration to draw the public eye to hardship happening throughout the nation.
Lange would go on to photograph other historic moments in the U.S., including the Japanese internment camps during World War II. She has been honored extensively in California after passing away there at the age of 70.
Cindy Sherman (born 1954)
Cindy Sherman differs dramatically from the other photographers on our list. An elaborate and meticulous contemporary artist, Sherman uses photography to create or recreate scenes in which she is the model, the photographer, director, costume designer and everything in between. The subject matter she captures through this unique method of solo production ranges from characters she encounters on the bus to surreal interpretations of sex and the human body.
Sherman has also strayed from the abstract into several ventures in the fashion industry, although the work is certainly done on her own terms and in her own style. She now resides in West Soho in a large residence that doubles as her studio and office.
Who are your favorite female photographers? Tweet us at @Adorama or comment below to let us know.
