10 Iconic Female Photographers

Their work has broken boundaries and defied stereotypes. They have been inspirations for generations of photographers to come and created a legacy for other photographers to follow. As a part of our tribute to female photographers, we take a look at 10 iconic female photographers through history, who have paved the way.

- Abhishek Desai

Claude Cahun

Born as Lucy Renée Mathilde Schwob in Nantes, France, Claude Cahun was a writer, and a surrealist photographer and performance artist. Cahun’s work was largely unseen, until the late 1980’s, when her photographs were a part of an exhibition on surrealist photography. Cahun is known for her self-portraits which portrayed her as gender-ambiguous. She intentionally took up the name Claude Cahun, which was ambiguously gendered, around 1919. She based herself in Paris with Suzanne Malherbe, who was her step-sister, and eventually became her lifelong partner. The duo collaborated and created various works, including writings, photographs, and sculptures too. Cahun’s work was largely experimental. Her gender role-reversal, in personal life, and her work, became a commentary on the notion of gender, sexuality, beauty, and one’s usual way of thinking. It was revolutionary, and challenged the public’s general notion, and understanding of photography. Her work, from the photography to the writing, later influenced a number of artists, including Nan Goldin and Cindy Sherman. While Cahun was often said to be an example of a historic lesbian/queer person, many also claim that Cahun was in fact a Claude Cahun trans person whose work focusses on discovery of self.

Dorothea Lange