Photographing the Female is a transnational project and exhibition exploring female identity and representation in photography through the lens of contemporary image makers. Formed to reflect the diverse state, condition and role of the female around the world today, we are using the power of photography to inspire new ways of seeing and start conversation!
When I started this project over nine months ago I did not imagine that by the time it took shape, millions of people across the globe would be on the streets protesting against a burgeoning new world order of regression and fear. As the rights and values of females everywhere are facing threats and pressure on issues within already problematic patriarchal structures, it only adds to the urgency of initiatives that acknowledge the importance of females in society and opens up new ways of understanding the female experience.
This story is from the March - April 2017 edition of Creative Image.
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This story is from the March - April 2017 edition of Creative Image.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Capturing World War II-Dmitri Baltermants
In 1962, Andrei Tarkovsky, the iconic Russian director, made a film called Ivan’s Childhood, a masterpiece that remarkably depicted conflict. The actual act of fighting was realised in its aftermath—by way of visuals of desolate landscapes and grim, darkly lit scenes. When watching the film closely, it is hard not to be reminded of the great photographer Dmitri Baltermants’ work. Though many of us continue to consider him as one of the greatest war photographers of all time, and some would say even better than Robert Capa, but unfortunately, the bias in the Western world, and especially in America, makes it all the more rare to get recognised on the basis of quality of your work and the creative explorations you make.
Majid Saeedi Afghanistan The Conflict Within
Afghanistan–The land of the Kabuliwala! A land defined by and defining etiquette, with a rich and powerful culture where poetry and music comes alive–such was my introduction to the mystical land of Afghanistan. The Afghanistan of today, however, is entirely different. The beautiful people, mountains and the poetry still linger, but are marred with blood, dust and war. Majid Saeedi is an Iranian documentary photographer who has been covering conflict areas in the middle-east for more than two decades now.
Paula Bronstein: The Endless Strife of Afghan Women
Afghanistan is a country where sadness and-sometimes-happiness is a way of life. Paula Bronstein has made some of the most extraordinary photos of her career in this country. “Face after face, I see complex and intriguing gazes, the constant tension between optimism and reality that so many people live with. I keep going back, motivated and inspired by those faces, pushing against the difficulties.” She hopes to find fewer doors slammed shut, and more people with something to smile about. There are many warm-hearted as well harrowing stories which still need to be told, she feels.
Photographing The Female
Photographing the Female is a transnational project and exhibition exploring female identity and representation in photography through the lens of contemporary image makers. Formed to reflect the diverse state, condition and role of the female around the world today, we are using the power of photography to inspire new ways of seeing and start conversation!
Francis Newton Souza
Ever one to question social convention and norms, Souza’s art was reflective of his strong ideals. It was not concerned with representation of truth, with questions of style and tradition, with problems of nationalism and modernism. His fundamental aim was to challenge the way art was commonly seen and understood, to redefine it, and to expand the horizons of the art scene in India—and so he did.
In the Heart of the Dark Night
A conservationist and keen observer of the animal world, George Shiras III was a pioneer in the field of wildlife photography. His astonishing flash photographs revealed for the first time the mysterious world of the forest at night. For more than 60 consecutive years he probed the forested shores of the same wilderness lake in upper Michigan in search of images unlike any ever seen before.
A Dialogue Between Animals and Humans
MANJIT BAWA Born in Dhurie, Punjab, Manjit Bawa(1941-2008) studied at the College of Art and did his diploma at the London School of Printing. He was acknowledged as one of the most significantartists of his time and the recepient of prestigious awards. Much sought after by collectors and museums worldwide, his works are in important collections in the country and abroad. Bawa held succesful exhibitions of his work across the world throughout his artistic career. A man of variedinterests, Manjit Bawa was passionate about travelling, music, cinema and photography.
The Serengeti Lion
Michael ‘Nick’ Nichols began as a staff photographer for National Geographic magazine in 1996, later rising to the editor at large for photography in 2008. Nichols’ beginning in photography date back to a time when he was part of the US Army’s photography wing back in the ‘70s. Starting 1982, he was a member of the prestigious Magnum Photos for thirteen years. In 2014, he received the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award for his infrared image of a pride of resting lions.
Photo 'Ok' Please
If there has been one major shift in photography over the past few years, it is the advent of the cellphone camera. Even the cheapest of smartphones today pay extra attention to the quality of images that their devices can produce. Never has a camera been so portable and so affordable. Never has an entire generation been so vocal. In every sense of the term, photography has never been so democratic in its entire history. More photographs are made today on a daily basis than ever before.
Waking From Dreams Of India
Neil Chowdhury was born in England to an Indian father and British mother. After earning his MFA from the University of Washington in Seattle, he was able to amass the funds needed for a plane ticket to pursue his explorations of his father’s homeland.“Photography for me is the perfect instrument of social observation. The reasons I began photographing have to do with the medium’s ability to record, describe, and provide a reference for the analysis of what has been seen. I used this at first as a way of finding and understanding social interaction, and then as a way of continued investigation of other societies, and as a creative strategy of art making,” he says.
