Women photographers in Europe: a fresh, feminine approach
| Pages | 141-145 |
| Published date | 01 October 2018 |
| Date | 01 October 2018 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/CC-03-2018-0007 |
| Author | Ana M. Muñoz-Muñoz,M. Barbaño González-Moreno |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Collection building & management |
APPROACHES TO PHOTOGRAPHY: PAPERS FROM III
CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE DOCUMENTACIÓN
FOTOGRAFICA (MEXICO CITY, 6-9 MARCH 2018)
Women photographers in Europe: a fresh,
feminine approach
Ana M. Muñoz-Muñoz
Departmentof Information and Communication,Faculty of Communication and Information, Universidad de Granada, Granada,Spain
and Institutode Investigaci
on de Estudios de las Mujeresy de Género, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain, and
M. Barbaño González-Moreno
Instituto de Investigaci
on de Estudios de las Mujeres y de Género, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to understand the role of women in the field of photography after the second wave of feminism in Europe.
Design/methodology/approach –The grounded theory on the position of women in contemporary photography has been contrasted with the
information collected by the authors in previous research studies on the presence of women photographers in the main museum collections in
Europe.
Findings –Gender inequality in the various artistic disciplines is a current sociopolitical problem Western countries have been fighting against for
several decades. After the resurgence of social movements in the USA and Europe in the 1960s, an artistic movement called feminist art emerged
whose significance should be assessed.
Research limitations/implications –The paper proposed a general approximation, a foundation on the state of art, which may be implemented
in the future with more data coming from other collections. It should be taken into account that this aim is a work in progress in a large scale of
the research.
Practical implications –This paper includes implications for the development of a more efficient strategy to create a balance situation in the
number of men and women photographers at the museum collections.
Originality/value –The paper identified a lack of practical analysis on the current averages of female photographers in art institutions.
Keywords Europe, Women, Identity, Museums, Photography, Feminist art
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The first studieson the status of women in art coincidewith the
feminist movement of the 1960s. Together with the political
and artistic practices, theoretical and ideological reflections
were made as seen in the increasing number of publications per
year. Also, it wasthen that the role of women artists in thefield
of photography began to emerge and be appreciated (Carson
and Pajaczkowsk a, 2001).
Photography was born in the firsthalfofthenineteenth
century, and like the rest of artistic areas, it was a field dominated
by men. For a long time, women were only passive actors, models
in front of the camera lens, objects to be photographed. At the
end of the nineteenth century, photography became one of the
few creative activities allowed to women. Since then, women
would work as photographers in an artistic field created by men
(Legido García, 2004). The 1960s marked a boom in the
feminist movement and also the time when women would rebel
through photography to denounce the unfair situations and the
roles women were subjected to in a patriarchal society. Thus,
photography would turn into a mean for female artists to reclaim
the right to create their own image using their bodies as spaces for
creation and criticism.
Despite all this, feminist demands have continued to this day,
and female photographers are committed to both securing
equality in practice and bringing to light the role of women
throughout history. The purpose is to reveal a distinct identity,
which most often has been hidden behind the shadow of male
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
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Collection and Curation
37/4 (2018) 141–145
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 2514-9326]
[DOI 10.1108/CC-03-2018-0007]
Received 9 March 2018
Accepted 13 April 2018
141
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