theconversation.com: Photography remains stubbornly male-dominated. In terms of commissioning, exhibition and publication of work, there is a conspicuous lack of equality in the industry. Data collected by Women Photograph – an initiative to promote and support female photographers – shows that between April and June 2019, eight of the world’s leading newspapers printed far fewer lead photographs by women than by men. Figures ranged from just 4.2% (three out of 72 photos published) in Le Monde to 47% (44/92) in the San Francisco Chronicle.
4 comments:
I took a photography class in high school and I really only remember studying male photographers. Female photographers always felt few and far between. This article gives me a sliver of hope for the future. Hearing that photographers are asking photography festivals to aim for a 50/50 split in male and female representation is amazing. The fact that this movement for more female photographers is happening at the grass-roots level with gallery owners and at the top with large festivals like Les Rencontres d’Arles. It’s frustrating that gender bias and possibly discrimination is happening in the hiring process for photographers. I wonder what the percentage of photographers are people of color. That would be another interesting article. I one hundred percent believe in what this article says about perspective. The female perspective is going to be very different from the male perspective and it’s important that the photography industry be accepting and open to both perspectives. Which it seems they are slowly moving towards.
This article, though disheartening, isn't really anything new. The film industry has this problem, the computer science industry has it too. Almost any type of STEAM related industry or profession seems to have a problem with equality in hiring and representing all perspectives within the United States. Women are still trying to break out of the gender discriminations that put them in the role of housekeeper and children minder. Women have been delegated to this role in the United States since its inception in 1776. That was about 200-300 years ago. Women have only been allowed to vote since 1920, 100 years ago. To change societies discrimination of women will take as much time as it has been a thing, probably a little bit longer. Significant change takes time. That being said, it is amazing to hear about the festivals that are intentionally looking for more women to showcase. People know about this problem AND some are trying to fix it. Even if the change is slowly and mostly in Europe, equality for women is still better than it has been in artistic careers.
Though this article indicated gender inequality in an artistic field, the message towards the end of the article gave me hope for female photographers going forward. As horrible as it is, it didn't shock me to read that gender inequality exists in the photography industry, as that is the unfortunate past trend in most industries. A point that really stood out to me in the article was the fact that the world actually NEEDS both male and female perspectives in a field as expressive and emotive as photography in order to accurately represent the viewpoints of issues that are being reported on. It is only when all perspectives are represented that the industry can truly be accurate in then representing the world. I think it is particularly sad that photography is an industry that was initially pioneered by incredible women, but then dominated by men. Men's perspectives and creative visions should continued to be reflected, but I believe that there is a need for more positions and opportunities for women to shine through. I'm so glad to see the women in and out of the industry supporting female photographers in speaking out for a seat at the table.
Unfortunately, this article talks about a theme that is present in so many fields, and gender discrimination, even though we have come far, is still nowhere near being gone. I was actually not surprised to hear that lead photographs are more often taken by male photographers than female photographers (or that male photographers dominate the field in general), because the world we live in is heavily geared towards the desires of the male eye, which is very disheartening. Gendered language (which the article talks about) in a way that is negative and degrading is not only enforcing binaries and stereotypes, but also negates the work done by the “minority”. There are also mirrors within the photography industry, that reflect to other art forms, because in order for anything to stay topical it must actually address the diversity and be representative of the people it is talking about. Overall, diversity is important. Gender parity is important. Equality is important. And even more so in a field that is supposed to speak for the people it is informing.
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