List of women photographers

Women have made significant contributions to photography since its inception. Notable participants include:

Photobooks by Carol Beckwith, Nina Berman, Marrie Bot, KayLynn Deveney, Rena Effendi, Aya Fujioka (藤岡亜弥), Cristina García Rodero, Fay Godwin, Lourdes Grobet, Mikiko Hara, Reiko Imoto (井本礼子), Kyōko Ioka (井岡今日子), Olya Ivanova (Ольга Иванова), Betsy Karel, Rinko Kawauchi, Vaida Keleras, Yōko Kishikawa (岸川洋子), Fusako Kodama, Eriko Koga (古賀絵里子), Ljalja Kuznetsova (Ляля Кузнецова), Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Helen Levitt, Markéta Luskačová, Bertien van Manen, Mary Ellen Mark, Miyuki Matsuda, Susan Meiselas, Inge Morath, Yurie Nagashima, Mika Ninagawa, Kei Orihara, Chizuru Ōta (太田ちづる), Megumi Ōtsuka (大塚めぐみ), Doris Quarella, Emmanuelle Riva, Inta Ruka, Toshie Saitō (齋藤利江), Rosalind Solomon, Toyoko Tokiwa

Afghanistan

Farzana Wahidy (born 1984), documentary photographer concentrating on women's issues in Afghanistan

Algeria

Zohra Bensemra (born 1968), photojournalist working mainly on conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Azerbaijan

Rena Effendi (born 1977), interested in the environment, post-conflict society, the effects of oil industry on people and social disparity

Belarus

Ottilia Reizman (1914–1986), documentary film and news photographer

Belgium

Marleen Daniels (born 1958), photojournalist turned fashion photographer
Jennifer Des (born 1975), photographer
Martine Franck (1938–2012), documentary photographer and portrait photographer
Cindy Frey (active since 2003), musical bands photographer
Nathalie Gassel (born 1964), writer, photographer
Aglaia Konrad (born 1960), photographer, educator
Diana Lui (born 1968), Malaysian-Belgian artist, photographer
Germaine Van Parys (1893–1983), pioneering photojournalist who joined Le Soir in 1922
Agnès Varda (born 1928), film director, photographer, educator
Eva Vermandel (born 1974), has photographed in Iceland and Ireland
Katrien Vermeire (born 1979), photographer, filmmaker

Brazil

Ingeborg de Beausacq (1910–2003), see Germany

Cameroon

Angèle Etoundi Essamba (born 1962), humanist photographer of Africa

Canada

China (People's Republic)

Croatia

Sanja Iveković (born 1949), photographer, sculptor and installation artist, creating photographic works early in her career, earning her the Camera Austria Award
Ivana Tomljenović-Meller (1906–1988), photographer, poster designer, and teacher who attended the Bauhaus

Cuba

Marta María Pérez Bravo (born 1959), black-and-white photography expressing mythological beliefs
Lissette Solorzano (born 1969), medical photographer, photojournalist, widely exhibited

Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic

Bohumila Bloudilová (1876–1946), portrait photographer
Irena Blühová (1904–1991), documentary photographer, student of the Bauhaus and Bratislava School of Fine Arts
Veronika Bromová (born 1966), specialist in new media applications
Eva Fuka (1927–2015), see United States
Libuše Jarcovjáková (born 1952), diaristic photographer
Běla Kolářová (1923–2010), Avant-garde photographer
Markéta Luskačová (born 1944), social photographer, often covering children, also London's markets
Emila Medková (1928–1985), influenced by surrealism
Lucia Moholy (1894–1989), born in Prague, produced many of the photographs associated with the Bauhaus school, later working as a stage photographer in Berlin
Marie Šechtlová (1928–2008), the poetry of the everyday

Denmark

Egypt

Estonia

Ina Bandy (1903–1973), Tallinn-born humanist photographer, later based in Paris
Ann Tenno (born 1952), landscape photographer and photo artist, noted for her photographs of Tallinn and the churches and manor houses of Estonia

Ethiopia

Eyerusalem Jiregna, photographer and photojournalist

Finland

Eija-Liisa Ahtila (born 1959), conceptual photographer and video artist
Caroline Becker (1826-1881), the first professional female photographer in Finland
Signe Brander (1869–1942), cityscapes of Helsinki
Nanna Hänninen (born 1973), chaotic objects, urban landscapes, and plants with repainting
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (born 1948), has photographed the Newcastle district of Byker and created a Coal Coast series on the beach between Seaham and Hartlepool
Susanna Majuri (1978–2020), captures short narrative scenes as if film stills
Julia Widgrén (1842–1917), early female professional photographer

France

Gambia

Khadija Saye (30 July 1992 – 14 June 2017)

Germany

Greece

Ianna Andreadis (born 1960), combines photography with her interest in archaeology, also landscapes from southern Africa
Nelly's (1899–1998), noted for her Greek temples, Berlin Olympics, later advertising, photo-reportages in the United States
Mary Paraskeva (1882–1951), possibly the first Greek woman to have left a large photographic legacy from the beginning of the 20th century
Athena Tacha (born 1936), conceptual photographer

Guatemala

María Cristina Orive (1931–2017), photographer, reporter and photojournalist, co-founder of the La Azotea publishing the work of Latin American photographers

Hong Kong

Wong Wo Bik (graduated 1977), architectural photographer

Hungary

Vivienne Balla (born 1986), fashion and fine art
Eva Besnyö (1910–2002), see Netherlands
Ata Kandó (born 1913), see Netherlands
Judith Karasz (1912–1977), Bauhaus graduate
Ergy Landau (1896–1967), Hungarian-born photographer, worked in Vienna, Berlin and latterly in Paris
Sylvia Plachy (born 1943), see United States
Ylla (born Camilla Koffler) (1911–1955), first to specialize in animal portraiture

Iceland

Rebekka Guðleifsdóttir (born 1978), whose work posted to Flickr led to employment in advertising campaigns
Hansína Regína Björnsdóttir (1884–1972)
Nicoline Weywadt (1848–1921), pioneering female photographer

India

Pamella Bordes (born 1961), worked as an international photojournalist for Gamma Press Photos, exhibitions include notable images from India and Cambodia, also self-portraits
Indrani (born mid-1980s, Kolkata), full name Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri, India's best known fashion photographer, based in New York, known for her celebrity portraits such as David Bowie, Iman, Beyoncé, Kate Winslet, Will Smith, Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, also known as a Tribeca Film Festival Award-winning film director
Saadiya Kochar (born 1979), first worked with the human body, portraits and then documentary (Kashmir)
Rathika Ramasamy, India's first woman wildlife photographer, particularly of birds
Dayanita Singh (born 1961), first photojournalism, later portraits and documentary work including Goa
Sooni Taraporevala (born 1957), a screenwriter also working in photography, especially of India's Parsi Zoroastrian community
Homai Vyarawalla (1913–2012), India's first woman photojournalist, covered celebrities including Gandhi, Nehru, Jinnah and Indira Gandhi
Richa Maheshwari (born 1988), a fashion and lifestyle photographer based in New Delhi

Iran

Parisa Damandan (born 1967), has collected portrait photographs illustrating the history of Isfahan, continuing her work after the 2003 Bam earthquake
Shadi Ghadirian (born 1974), portraits of women dressed in traditional style, often juxtaposed with modern anomalies such as a mountain bike or cola can, now increasingly exhibited in the west
Zahra Kazemi (1948–2003), Iranian-Canadian freeland photojournalist who died following arrest in Iran after covering poverty, destitutions and oppression in the Middle East
Sanaz Mazinani (born 1978), Iranian-Canadian photographer and curator, installation based photography
Shirin Neshat (born 1957), photos of women confronted by Islamic fundamentalism, later working with multimedia and film
Ashraf os-Saltaneh (1863–1914), first woman photographer of Iran
Shirana Shahbazi (born 1974), conceptual photography, installations
Newsha Tavakolian (born 1981), Iranian documentary photographer
Maryam Zandi (born 1947), founding board member of Iran's National Society of Photographers, has published many calendars of Iranian portraits

Iraq

Halla Ayla (born 1957), photographer, painter

Ireland

Photograph by Jane Shackleton

Jane Shackleton (1843–1909), pioneering Irish photographer
Helen Sloan (active since 1994), still and film photographer, known for photographing the TV series Game of Thrones

Israel

Elinor Carucci (born 1971), see United States
Liselotte Grschebina (1908–1994), German-born, emigrated to Palestine, roots in New Vision
Sagit Zluf Namir (born 1978)
Tal Shochat (born 1974), fine arts photographer

Italy

Letizia Battaglia (born 1935), photojournalist in Sicily, specializing in coverage of the Mafia for the newspaper L'Ora
Vanessa Beecroft (born 1969), photographer and performance artist, now in Los Angeles
Monica Bonvicini (born 1965), sculptor, photographer, video artist, educator
Ghitta Carell (1899–1972), Hungarian-born, naturalized Italian photographer fluent from 1930-1950
Marina Cicogna (born 1934), film producer and photographer
Yvonne De Rosa (born 1975), art photography
Domiziana Giordano (born 1959), painter, actress, photographer and video artist
Luisa Lambri (born 1969), working mainly on architecture and abstraction
Otonella Mocellin (born 1966), photographer and video artist
Tina Modotti (1896–1942), born in Italy, worked as a fine art photographer and documentarian, with Edward Weston, ran a studio in Mexico City
Dianora Niccolini (born 1936), pioneer of male nude photography
Virginia Oldoini (1837–1899), early proponent, estheticially interested in images of herself, large collection in Metropolitan Museum of Art
Floria Sigismondi (born 1965), fashion, installations, video
Grazia Toderi (born 1963), video artist and photographer

Jamaica

Esther Anderson (born 1946), portraits and documentary work
Renée Cox (born 1960), see United States

Japan

Kuwait

Maha Al-Asaker

Latvia

Inta Ruka (born 1958), specializing in portraits of people in the areas where they live

Lithuania

Esther Shalev-Gerz (born 1957), installation artist who also exhibits her photography
Audronė Vaupšienė (born 1965), fashion photographer and collaborator in artworks

Luxembourg

Marianne Majerus (born 1956), specializes in garden photography contributing widely to magazines and newspapers

Mali

Fatoumata Diabaté (born 1980)

Malta

Adelaide Conroy (born 1839), early photographer in Valetta

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Nigeria

Norway

Pakistan

Farrukh Saleem (born 1988), Karachi based Female photographer known for her portraits and wedding photography

Palestine

Karimeh Abbud (1896–1955), professional photographer in Nazareth in the 1930s, also producing postcards
Sama Raena Alshaibi (born 1973), Iraq-born Palestinian–US conceptual artist, using photography, also an academic
Rula Halawani (born 1964), photographer, photojournalist, educator
Emily Jacir, artist in photography and other media, also an academic
Ahlam Shibli (born 1970), photographer of Bedouins of Palestinian descent

Peru

Andrea Hamilton (born 1968), fine art photographer

Poland

Leopoldyna Janusz (1862–1934)
Lotte Beese
Ania Bien (born 1946), see United States
Margaret Michaelis-Sachs (1902–1985), Austrian-Australian photographer of Polish-Jewish origin, portraits, architecture of Barcelona, Jewish quarter in Cracow
Nata Piaskowski (1912–2004), Polish-born American photographer, portraits and landscapes, based in San Francisco
Zofia Rydet (1911–1997), documented postwar Poland
Faye Schulman, took photos during World War II

Portugal

Helena Almeida (1934–2018), conceptual painter and photographer
Ana Dias (born 1984), photographer of erotic femininity

Romania

Alexandra Croitoru (born 1975), seeks to challenge accepted ideas of power sharing and gender in Romania

Russia

Princess Olga Orlova at the 1903 Ball, a hand-tinted image of Princess Olga Orlova by Elena Mrozovskaya, now in the collection of the Hermitage Museum[1]

Evgenia Arbugaeva (born 1985), photographer of the Russian Arctic
Anastasia Chernyavsky
Lena Herzog (born 1970), see United States
Ida Kar (1908–1974), known for her portraits of artists and writers
Anastasia Khoroshivlova (born 1978), artist and photographer
Nina Leen (died 1995), see United States
Diana Markosian (born 1989), documentary photographer who has photographed the north Caucasus and central Asia
Elena Mrozovskaya (before 1892 – 1941), early Russian professional photographer

Singapore

Marjorie Doggett (born 1921), animal rights advocate, architectural photographer, and heritage conservationist
Sim Chi Yin (born 1978), photojournalist
Zhang Jingna (born 1988), see China (People's Republic)

South Africa

Jodi Bieber (born 1966), known for taking the photograph of Bibi Aisha, the Afghanistan woman whose nose and ears were mutilated by her husband and brother-in-law
Vera Elkan (1908–2008), remembered for her images of the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War
Constance Stuart Larrabee (1914–2000), South African's first female World War II correspondent, also known for images of South Africa
Zanele Muholi (born 1972), has used photography in support of LGBTI issues, several solo and group exhibitions since 2004
Neo Ntsoma (born 1972), known for being the first woman recipient of the Mohamed Amin Award, the CNN African Journalist of the Year Prize Photography
Jo Ractliffe (born 1961), photographer and teacher
Colla Swart (born 1930), photographs of people, landscapes and flowers in Namaqualand
Nontsikelelo Veleko (born 1977), depicts black identity
Gisèle Wulfsohn (1957–2011), covered the struggle against apartheid and HIV/AIDS awareness initiatives

South Korea

Nikki S. Lee (born 1970), self-portraits posing in various ethnic and social groups such as punks, hip-hop musicians, male partners

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Hélène Binet (born 1959), first photographed in the Grand Théâtre de Genève before turning to architectural photography, now based in London
Lucienne Bloch (1909–1999), see United States
Henriette Grindat (1923–1986), artistic photographer in the post-war period inspired by the surrealistic trends of the times
Ella Maillart (1903–1997), travel photography
Franziska Möllinger (1817–1880), Switzerland's first female photographer
Annemarie Schwarzenbach (1908–1942), prolific writer and photographer, leaving some 50 photo reports documenting the rise of the Nazis in Germany and her travels to the Middle East and the United States

Turkey

Semiha Es (1912–2012), Turkey's first female photojournalist, worked between 1950 and 1970s as a war photographer
Maryam Şahinyan (1911–1996), Turkey's first female photographer, managing a studio from 1937, archive of some 200,000 images
Naciye Suman (1881–1973), Turkey's first Muslim female photographer, owning a studio from 1919 to 1930

Ukraine

Elena Filatova (born 1974), photographs of the Chernobyl area

United Kingdom

United States

Uzbekistan

Umida Akhmedova (born 1955), photojournalist working in Central Asia, arrested in 2010 for her images of the Uzbek people

Gallery

gollark: Terrariola is the person PotatOS was written for.

gollark: CONSUME manganese.

gollark: This is probably related.

gollark: I might have. I forgot.

gollark: Yes.

References

Exhibitions on tour: Princess Olga Orlova in masquerade Archived 2013-10-21 at the Wayback Machine, Hermitage Museum, retrieved 2013-10-19.