Need-to-Inform. The Pioneering Women Photographers who Helped Shape Their Art
Updated: Jul 4
How Anne Brigman, Imogen Cunningham, Berenice Abbott, Dorothea Lange and Ilse Bing forged path for others to follow in Pictorism, documentary and avant-garde photography ill-starred with works.
The firts half of the 20th century was. time of extraordinary change in the field of photography, By 1940, the Museum of Modern Art had established the first department of photography in an American museum, reseting the importance of the art form in the eyes of the world.
The names of many male photographers have been written into the history of the period as important drivers of change. But the women who worked alongside them were just as significant, establisihing careers in their own right and creating images that redefined how modern photography might look.
These five photographers developed powerful voices that helped to shape the history of the medium across a 50-year period.
She was one of the original members of the Photo-Secession movement in North America
Anne Brigman (1869-1950)
Was a San Francisco based Pictorials photographer known for her mysterious and poetic compositions of female figures in natural landscapes. One of the first women to photograph nudes in such settings, she made images that emphasised the universality of nature.
Her most famous images were taken between 1900 and 1920, and depict nude women in primordial naturalistic contexts.
Some recounts a story supposedly told to her firsthand that on one of the voyages Brigman fell and injured herself so badly that one breast was removed. This story was never confirmed by Brigman or anyone else, but by 1900 Brigman stopped traveling with her husband and resided in Oakland, California.
The couple separated before 1910 and she lived in a cabin on Thirty-Second Street with her dog Rory, a dozen tamed birds, and occasionally with her mother.
Brigman´s photographs frequently focused o the female nude, .dramatically situated in natural landscapes or trees. Many of her photos were taken in the Sierra Nevada in carefully selected locations and featuring elaborately staged poses. Brigman often featured herself as the subject of her images, such as Soul of the Blasted Pine, for which she received the Birmingham Photographic Society´s first silver metal. Many of her other photos used her sister as the nude model. After shooting the photographs, she would extensively touch up the negatives with paints, pencil or superimposition.
Imogen Cunnigham (1883-1976)
Imogen Cunningham was a true was a true master of the photograph medium, capturing a variety of subjects- from botanical studies and nudes, to industrial landscapes and protraits- in images that were praised for their evocative use of light and attention to detail.She was a member pf the California- based Group 1/64, know for tis dedication to the sharp focus rendition of simple subjects. Her first photographs in 1906.were portraits taken with a 4 -by-5 inch format camera. She began to study and understand the chemistry behind photography while paying for her tuition by photographing plants for the botany department.
Cunningham in the 194s, turned to documentary street photography, which she executed as a side project while supporting herself with her commercial and studio photography. In 1945. Cunnigham´s pictures retained a subtle romanticism and sensitivity that set work apart. Todays, she is regarded as one of the greatest female photographers.
Berenice Abbott ( 1898-1991)
The photographic of Berenice Abbott represents a culmination of her experiences in Paris and New York in the 1920s and 30s. The relationships she forged here with avant-garde artists such as Marcel Duchamp and Man Ray helped her to master her art and refine her personal aesthetic. She is well-know for her portraits of between-the-wars 29th century culture figures, New York City photographs of architecture and urban design of the 1930s, and science interpretation in the 1940s to 1960s. Abbott worked on her New York project independently for six years, unable to get finanacial support from organisations ( such as the Museum of the City of New York ), foundations ( such as the Guggenheim Foundation), or individuals. She supported..
Dorothea Lange ( 1895-1965 )
At the height of the 1930s Depression, Dorothea Lange , began to look outside her successful portrait studio and photograph the world outside, producing images that were less about creating art than effecting social The photographs she captured for the Farm Security Administration (FSA), a Depression-era movement agency created to raise awareness about and provide support for struggling farmers, are among her most celebrated, chiefly for the way they humanised the plight of rural North americans. Lange received widespread recognition for the achviements during her lifetime. In 1941 she receive the first Guggenheim Fellowship ever awarded to a woman, and in 1954 she joined the staff of Life magazine, which allowed her to travel to Asia, South America and the Middle East as a freelance photographer.
We have again three women who have fought aginst time, life, conditions. Until today, few of them are well-snowed, some of their images we have seen them in a corner, in a cover of a magazine, or hanging on a wall, but it for sure we do not know their Names. Yes, with Capital Letter and underlined, ignoring their names, just pass the page and look forward.
These are some examples of pioneers women who have had made career , open doors for New Generations, we must have to continue with philosophy of freedom, equality must not t give up.