FX.co ★ Queens of photography: 8 amazing female photographers you should know

Eve Arnold

Eve Arnold (1912-2012) was the first female photographer who joined the world-famous Magnum Photos agency. A gifted photojournalist, she made a great contribution to news photography. According to experts, in her works, Arnold focused primarily on the topic of childhood, the relationship between parents and children. Her sensitivity and intelligence as well as courage and ambitions enabled her to make vivid news reports from hot spots of the planet - from political demonstrations to closed institutions. Arnold also took photos of prominent people such as Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth II, Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, and other celebrities. Eve Arnold always said that one’s personality is always at the heart of the story. For this reason, photographers need to pay more attention to the people involved in their photo reportage.

Graciela Iturbide

Many critics emphasize that the photos of Mexican photographer Graciela Iturbide are quite cinematographic. Her studies at the Centro de Capacitación Cinematográfica had a profound impact on her works. Graciela pointed out that her work featured elements of the art of such photography masters as Henri Cartier-Bresson, Josef Kudelka, and Sebastião Salgado. She was interested in such topics as the search for identity, the novelty in everyday life, as well as the role of women in society. In 1978, commissioned by the Ethnographic Archive of the National Institute of Indigenous Peoples of Mexico, she made a number of photographs of the Seri, Juchitan, and other Indians. Through the camera lens, Iturbide learnt the culture and customs of different peoples.

Victoria Ivleva

Russian photojournalist Victoria Ivleva is the only photographer who entered the fourth block of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant immediately after the disaster. The report, made in the Chernobyl reactor, was awarded the World Press Photo Golden Eye, the highest award in the world of photography. Ivleva's photographs have been published in major Russian and foreign magazines, including The Guardian and The New York Times. In 1994, she was the only Russian photographer to cover the genocide in this South African country. Ivleva tried not only to take photos of the events but also to help the heroes of her reports. It led to an internal crisis. After returning from Rwanda, she stopped taking pictures. Only after 10 years, Ivleva found the strength to come back to the work of her life – photography. Yet, she was also deeply involved in public activity.

Sally Mann

A popular American photographer, certified specialist Sally Mann is known for numerous photos of her daughters. She focuses on the themes of childhood and adolescence, as well as girlish attractiveness. In 1988, a collection of photographs by Mann "At Twelve: Portraits of Young Women" was published. In 1992, she released the album "Close Relatives'' where she captured the story of growing up with her children. These images demonstrate the photographer's reflections on growing up, the transience of life, and also the topic of death. "Photographs open doors into the past, but they also allow a look into the future. Photography has no rules; it is not a sport. It is the result which counts, no matter how it is achieved. The Japanese have a phrase for this dual perception: mono no aware. It means "beauty tinged with sadness," for there cannot be any real beauty without the indolic whiff of decay," she pinpointed. She believed that people should keep what is dear to them, and try to capture the most important moments of life.

Nan Goldin

Experts consider Nan Goldin one of the most influential photographers of the second half of the 20th century. A recipient of the French Legion of Honor, Nan Goldin thoroughly explores such sensitive topics as female sexuality, addiction in personal relationships, and gender identity. The photographer's lens captured such aspects of life as violence, alcohol, and drug addiction, life, and customs of the New York bohemian of the 1980s. At this time, Goldin made a series of photos "The Ballad of Sexual Addiction". The determining factor in the fate of the photographer was a tragic event in the family: when Nan was 12 years old, her older sister committed suicide. The main themes of Goldin's works were self-portraits, as well as photos of close and familiar people.

Margaret Bourke-White

American photographer Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) became a pioneer in many areas: the first war correspondent in the United States to be allowed to work at the front, as well as the first female photographer for Life magazine. According to analysts, the epithets "first", "only", "unique" accompanied M. Bourke-White throughout her life. Her portrait of a woman in a flight uniform near a bomber was one of her most famous pictures. It hung in almost every barracks during the war. At the end of the war, Burke-White covered the story of the Buchenwald concentration camp, as well as from the Leipzig-Thekla labor camp. After the Second World War, she published the book "Dear Fatherland, Rest Quietly" where she wrote about her work as a war correspondent. Later, M. Bourke-White worked in India, Pakistan, and South Africa.

Carol Goosey

In the portfolio of photojournalist Carol Goosey, there are about 15 prestigious awards. She is the only journalist to have been awarded the Pulitzer Prize four times. Goosey received her awards for photographs of Kosovo refugees taken in the 1990s, as well as for the publication of images of the American military operation "Support for Democracy". The awards were also given to a series of reports which told about the consequences of the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. Carol used to say that the most important light she was trying to discern and capture was the radiance that came from each person. While taking photos, she paid great attention to human emotions, especially in the moments of deep grief and pain.

Dorothea Lange

Experts consider Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) to be one of the brightest representatives of documentary photography of the last century. She was a chronicler of the history of the United States in the first half of the 20th century. The influence of the legendary photographer on the development of documentary photography is immeasurable. She became widely famous after a series of pictures about the Great Depression in the United States. Her series of photos "The Migrant Mother" (1936) was iconic. The heroine of this photo, Florence Owens Thompson, had to move with 7 children to a California labor camp after the death of her husband. A photograph of hungry children snuggling up to their emaciated mother became a symbol of the Great Depression.