Inspirational Female Photographers

I didn't want to let women down. One of the stereotypes I see breaking is the idea of aging and older women not being beautiful.

Annie Leibovitz

One of the things I love about writing my little blog is the photography element. As you will know if you read this often, I’m far from an expert however, I’d like to think I’m improving over time. One of the things I’ve done to try and improve my skills is buy a half decent camera in real life and try to learn about things like light and perspective. So, armed with my Canon EOS 250D, I started a fabulous on line diploma course with the British Academy of Photography!

The course was going well, then the pandemic reared it’s ugly head and life all of a sudden got very busy, truth is I didn’t have any time to absorb the course content let alone find the time to go out and take some pictures and eventually I lost all motivation which made me sad. To try and reverse this, I thought I’d read about some influential female photographers and it worked!

So, if you’ve ever considered taking up photography, here are five photographers that have helped get my mojo back;

Annie Leibovitz

I’ve started with the ultimate and probably most famous female photographer! There is no other female portrait photographer as famous as Annie Leibovitz. Throughout her expansive career, she photographed Demi Moore, The Queen and more notably John Lennon on the same day as his death.

She started as a staff photographer for Rolling Stone magazine. This helped her hone her specific style.

She once said “A very subtle difference can make the picture or not.”

There is a brilliant article/interview she did for the 50th anniversary edition of rolling stone magazine here

Ashley Baxter

At the other end of the spectrum is Ashley Baxter but equally as inspiring. Ashley essentially is a blogger, she hosts a page called GIRL WITH A CAMERA. Based in Glasgow, presents natural light portrait photography of real life experiences. As well as her blog, Ashley has a popular Instagram with over 80,000 followers. GIRL WITH A CAMERA follows Ashley as she spends time with friends and visits places around Scotland, with her Canon camera in hand.

Vivian Maier

Maier has become the most famous street photographer of the last few years. Her work was discovered after her death, all hidden in huge suitcases, by a photographer who bought them at an auction.

She was prolific in capturing street photography. Her main position was that of a nanny, keeping her photography as a hobby. She kept her passion secret for her entire life.

Thanks to the finder of her hundreds of thousands of negatives, her work has been shown across many countries. A documentary film, Finding Vivian Maier, was created to try and find more information about this secret photographer.

I blogged about her way back in December 2018 when I first heard about this remarkable woman, if you’d like to know more about her take a peep here.

Candida Höfer

Candida Höfer is an interior architectural photographer from Cologne. Her work is known for technical perfection and a strictly conceptual approach.

She worked on empty spaces from 1979, while studying in Düsseldorf. Her focus is primarily on cultural and institutional spaces, including libraries, zoos, and opera houses.

Another notable series of hers is the Zoologische Gärten series from 1991. Here, she seeks to deconstruct the role institutions play in defining the viewer’s gaze by documenting animals in their caged environments.

If you want a masterclass in precision photography take a look here.

Imogen Cunningham

Imogen Cunningham was an American photographer best known for her nudes, botanical and industrial architecture photographs.

Sadly, she passed away at the age of 93 in 1976 however, her work was ground breaking at the time and is still as contemporary as it was then.

She was a member of the Californian Group f/64, known for its dedication to the sharp focusing of simple subjects.

After graduating university with a degree in chemistry, she began working for Edward S. Curtis. Here, she learned about portrait photography and helped in documenting American Indian tribes for the book The North American Indian.

After her death her family set up the Imogen Cunningham Trust, you can find some of her amazing work here.

Sophie Inthesticks

Okay, her surname isn’t Inthesticks however, try as I might I cannot for the life of me find her surname. Sophie hosts the fabulous blog, yes you guessed it, Sophie In The Sticks. Sophie in the Sticks is a photography, fashion and lifestyle blog created by “a girl who lives in rural Norfolk” with a love of nature and the countryside. Sophie in the Sticks displays seasonal photographs taken by Sophie on her countryside walks, including images of beautiful sunsets, rural landscapes, quiet meadows and woodland foraging.

Sophie’s pictures are AMAZING and to think she only started blogging on New Years day 2011 makes her work even more remarkable!

I absolutely adore her work, I’ve read a couple of articles about her and she’s also fascinating, I will write more about her, I feel a separate post coming on!

What’s on this week?