Women photographers are fortunate. Unlike other titles, photographer has no gender. Women photographers don’t have to force stilted language like “flight attendant” instead of “stewardess,” or “letter carrier” instead of “mailman.”  “Photographer” doesn’t have the historical male/female titles such as “author” and “authoress,” or “actor” vs. “actress.” Women photographers may not even have to battle the associated gender that “doctors” or “nurses” do. Did you know that bank tellers always were men up until WWII because it was thought that women couldn’t handle money?

So when you visualize a photographer, is it a man or woman? It probably depends on your most recent contact with one. But when you look at a photograph, can you tell whether it was taken by a man or a woman? Probably not. So, at least on one side of the lens, it doesn’t make a difference that the photographer is a woman.

So why is it important to talk about women and photography? Because, according to several studies over the past few years, women’s brains are different than men’s.


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