This formidable collective sum, illustrated by 450 images, presents the works of 300 women photographers from all over the world, from the invention of the medium to the dawn of the 21st century. Few of those whose names have come down to us, disappearing from the creation story for the benefit of the “great masters”.
The erasure of women in the history of photography results from a long tradition of discredit. Original and autonomous creators, they have never ceased to document, question and transfigure the world, demonstrating that the camera can be a fantastic tool for emancipation. No experimentation or clash of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries escaped them.
To reproduce the diversity of the backgrounds of these women photographers, Luce Lebart and Marie Robert invited 160 authors from different parts of the world to contribute to this manifesto.
“In the field of photography, very few women have risen to prominence, and few are those whose names have come down to us. The pantheon of photographers is still essentially male. Even when they have achieved real recognition from their peers during their lifetime, women systematically tend to disappear from the great creation story.” Luce Lebart and Marie Robert
Luce Lebart is a photography historian, curator and French correspondent for the Archive of Modern Conflict collection (London-Toronto). She has notably written Les Grands Photographes du XXe siècle (Larousse, 2017) and Les Silences d´Atget (Textuel, 2016).
Marie Robert has been chief curator at the Orsay Museum since 2011, responsible for the collection of photographs. She was co-curator of the exhibitions Who’s Afraid of Women Photographers? and Splendors and Miseries. Images of prostitution.
The research led by Marie Robert and Luce Lebart was carried out thanks to the support of the Rencontres d’Arles and Women In Motion, a Kering program that highlights the place of women in the arts and culture.
This work benefits from the support of the Ministry of Culture, the delegate ministry responsible for Equality between Women and Men, Diversity and Equal Opportunities and the Ile-de-France region.
Une Histoire Mondiale des Femmes Photographes
Luce Lebart Marie Robert
Éditions Textuel
300 women photographers 160 authors from all over the world
450 images on 504 pages
25 x 28.8, hardcover, 504 pages
€ 69
ISBN: 978-2-84597-843-0
https://www.editionstextuel.com/livre/une-histoire-mondiale-des-femmes-photographes
