Book Review: The New Woman Behind the Camera
Ilse Bing, Self-Portrait with Leica, 1931, gelatin silver print, 26.7 × 30.5 cm (10 1/2 × 12 in.) © Michael Mattis and Judith Hochberg
By Dani Martin
Curated by Andrea Nelson, the exhibition “The New Woman Behind the Camera” demonstrates the often-overlooked history and influence of women photographers during the 1920s through the 1950s. Although the Covid-19 pandemic halted production on what was originally set to be an exhibition at the National Gallery of Art, fortunately, the works of the artists featured could still be published in this catalog. Authors Elizabeth Cronin, Mia Fineman, Mila Ganeva, Kristen Gresh, Elizabeth Otto, and Kim Sichel join Nelson in this endeavor to chronicle the narrative of the “new woman.”
Helen Levitt, New York, c. 1942, gelatin silver print, 18.6 × 24.8 cm (7 5/16 × 9 3/4 in.) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, Gift of William H. Levitt
Historically, the accomplishments and talents of female artists have been disregarded in favor of contributions from their male counterparts. This exhibition highlights the compelling lives of the women who shaped and transformed the future of photography. The historical significance of photography is outlined in parallel to the growing interest in the medium among women over the century. The book illustrates that just as photography itself was expanding as a newer mode of artistic expression in the early to mid-1800s, so too were the number of women artists exploring it.
Frances McLaughlin-Gill, Untitled, 1946, gelatin silver print (outtake from “Young Suit Look–– Junior Fashions,” Vogue, September 1, 1946), 26.7 × 25.4 cm (10 1/2 × 10 in.) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, R. K. Mellon Family Foundation
Against the backdrop of two world wars and economic turmoil, the “new woman” arrives on the scene as an inverse response to a more traditional, “domesticated” lifestyle. Women were beginning to find roles outside of being a mother or a wife, which broke ground for female photographers to pursue professionalism through their creative abilities.
Marjorie Content, Adam Trujillo and His Son Pat, Taos, Summer 1933, gelatin silver print, 11.5 × 14.2 cm (4 1/2 × 5 9/16 in.) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, Purchased as the Gift of the Gallery Girls
Though the “new woman” may have similar aspirations and goals cultivated by their liberation, the book emphasizes that the “new woman” is not just one person. This archetype spans across race, religion, ethnicity, and culture. Nelson curates a display that highlights many different and diverse women from all over the world. There are works from Germaine Krull, Niu Weiyu, Berenice Abbott, Genevieve Naylor, Tina Modotti, Tsuneko Sasamoto, Dorothea Lange, Hou Bo, Winifred Hall Allen, and Eiko Yamazawa, among many others.
Niu Weiyu, The Handcrafts Group Organized by Families of Shanghai Business Owners Making Chinese Dolls, 1956, gelatin silver print, printed later, 43.9 × 45.8 cm (17 5/16 × 18 1/16 in.) © Gao Fan & Niu Weiyu Foundation
After an introduction providing the relevant background information on the history of photography, and the early pioneers of the medium, each chapter is defined by a theme or focus: studio work, children, photojournalism, ethnography, the body and nudity, and fashion photography. Throughout these chapters, the catalog points out the complexities within the study and history of this art form. It challenges us to examine these moments while taking into account the Western gaze, and to understand the intricacies of how history is written, and by whom.
Yvonne Chevalier, Nu (Nude), 1929, gelatin silver print, 39 × 25.7 cm (15 3/8 × 10 1/8 in.) © National Gallery of Art, Washington, Alfred H. Moses and Fern M. Schad Fund
This catalog does the hard work of not only providing a narrative to the timeline of women in photography but challenging our perception of what exactly that history is. When do “women artists” simply become “artists”? Is it possible to photograph and celebrate cultures from an outside perspective without the lens of colonialism? How do we shift the narrative of nudity and the human form from a place of sexual objectification to one of sexual liberty? What about the black women artists who have been afforded significantly less, if anything at all, in terms of resources and opportunities due to systemic racism and prejudice? How do we account for and properly acknowledge the under-represented women in this industry?
Within the 200 hundred or so pages of this catalog, we are not only called to enjoy but to learn and reflect. The exhibition is beautifully assembled in this book and poses important, and often nuanced, questions alongside some of the most influential and inspiring early works of female photographers.
