The Maison de la Photographie and ARTPIL present an unprecedented exhibition of thirty young women photographers from around the world.
This exhibition proposes, through portraits, landscapes, art photos, pictures of everyday life, photos of architecture, fashion, war and social conflicts, a different worldview, in this medium of photography traditionally dominated by men.
This project, founded in 2010, offers a selection of photos by 30 female photographers each year and was first presented to the general public in 2018 thanks to the collaboration between Maison de la Photographie and ARTPIL
At first sixty photos were presented to the Claude Samuel gallery on the occasion of Paris Photo, then a larger version of the exhibition was presented at the House of Photography of Lille from December 13, 2018 to January 6, 2019 and met with great success. The public discovered a selection of four photographs by artist presented in an original scenography and accompanied by a mediation.
For the 2019 edition the collaboration continues and the exhibition is integrated this year directly into the heart of the program of the festival Transphotographiques, giving the project a larger dimension and greater opportunity for these young talents to make themselves known by the public.
“In photography, the traditional place of women is in front of the objective” explains the photographer Natalie Dybisz better known under her pseudonym Miss Aniela. Visit a modern photo fair like Photokina in Cologne and you will see that most of the visitors who pass by are men with their cameras around their necks; while the models posing in front of each stand, waiting to be photographed by new state-of-the-art equipment, are mainly women and girls.
Look at any advertisement for a new camera, you will usually see the kit concealed by a male hand, with the image of a young woman visible through the lens or emblazoned on the glass itself. As if the camera was still supposed to belong to a man. Photography, whether we like to admit it or not, is usually an arena dominated by men, where “watching” is a masculine act and the subject is feminine. They play the role of ” being watched” and admired, mainly for their physical appearance.
What is it to be a female photographer? A woman who takes hold of the camera, when her position is traditionally in front of the camera? Who uses her eye to look at the world, instead of looking back to the sweet eye of the man? It may seem primitive to speak of the photographer in this way, but as UNDER 30 WOMEN artists will argue, resistance – or even subtle discrimination – is common even nowadays. We will each have our own story of how being a woman has hindered, or unfairly helped, our progression in this profession.
One could say that looking at the work of thirty female photographers is a “positive discrimination”, the focus is on women’s work, whether you view their work as intrinsically “feminine” or simply human. The women here are photographing men, women, animals, landscapes, objects – and even themselves, which, in cases where photographer’s work is in doubt, can be even more problematic. The feminine self-portrait is a genre in itself; and with the advent of digital cameras, access to computer processing and photo-sharing, more and more ordinary women are starting to figure out how to represent themselves. These women nevertheless try to challenge the rules of traditional positioning by pulling the strings of their own visual representation.
So, whatever work you enjoy, take your time to admire the images and keep in mind the different experiences of each artist involved. ”
Transphotographic – 30 under 30 women photographers 2019
May 4 to June 2, 2019
Maison de la Photographie
28, rue Pierre Legrand
59800 Lille
www.maisonphoto.com
