WITNESS THE LENS: WOMEN IN JOURNALISM
A visual documentation of the iconic trailblazers in the field of photojournalism, we honor the women who heralded change by picking up their cameras to give voice and nuance to the stories of people, communities, and nations.
Let's witness the work of these women. Let it move and stay with us. Let it stand as a testimony of the will, courage, power, and endurance of the women who railed against their times and led the revolution for change, for carving a space for women's perspectives to be seen and valued. Let's venture on a journey to behold and cherish the varied photographs cutting across time and space, chronicling lives and holding power to account.
Homai Vyarawalla
"Looking through the camera, focusing on a subject and isolating it from its surroundings, these were the things that attracted me. The viewfinder of the camera attracted me to photography."
"Don't go by my age. Go by the age of my photographs. They will remain after me, they will remain for years."
Letizia Battaglia
"To create a truly great photograph, you have to work hard and be free. A good photographer needs to be inside the photograph somehow so that the viewer can feel their presence."
"With this [camera] in my hand, I can take on the world. Suddenly, I no longer needed kisses or caresses. Instead, I had this confidence, this independence. But it was not just about expressing myself. With the camera, I could also express the inquietude of the world."
Lee Miller
"[Being a photojournalist is] a matter of getting out on a damn limb and sawing it off behind you."
Christine Spengler
"To live always on the crest, on the summit, in balance between war and peace, that is what I learned to love more than anything…in the midst of turmoil."
"I want to continue to bear witness to the horror, the injustice, these wonderful men, women and children who still have the strength to smile, in the depths of tragedy."
Gerda Taro
"When you think of all the fine people we both know who have been killed even in one offensive, you get an absurd feeling that somehow it’s unfair still to be alive."
- As cited by Robin Stummer in his Accidental Heroine
Fatemeh Behboudi
"The most amazing part of photography for me is when photos can pass through borders and communicate with the world. People can hear the voices of others who have been hidden from us because of politics."
"One can awaken blind people but can never awaken a person who pretends to be asleep."
Malin Fezehai
"People are the same and different all over the world, in the same way as individuals are the same and different. We all live in the same world with different realities and I constantly try to learn about people's different lives - regardless of if the person is a refugee, a politician or a musician. I work in many different realities and to me the human connection is the most important."
Ruth Motau
"Along the journey I have learned that we are spirit beings. Your soul, what you feed your soul with, or what it is that you feed yourself inside, it's more important than the outside."
Tina Modotti
"Photography, precisely because it can only be produced in the present, and because it is based on what exists objectively before the camera, takes its place as the most satisfactory medium for registering objective life in all its aspects, and from this comes its documental value. If, to this, is added sensibility and understanding and, above all, a clear orientation as to the place it should have in the field of historical development, I believe that the result is something worthy of a place in social production, to which we should all contribute."
"I try to produce not art but honest photographs, without distortions or manipulations."
Lola Álvarez Bravo
“I don’t have any major artistic aspirations, but if my photographs serve any purpose, they’ll be a chronicle of my country, time, people. They’ll tell the story of how Mexico has changed. My images include things you don’t see in Mexico anymore (…)
I was lucky to encounter and capture these images. One day they might serve as testimony of the time that’s gone by and the transformations it’s brought. These are images that hit me on a deeper level, they shocked me into clicking the camera.”
Anja Niedringhaus
"If I don't take pictures, it will not be known."
"I only do my work to report on the courage of people with my camera and my heart."
Gao Chu - curator for an exhibition of Niu Weiyu’s photographs.
"The picture connects the past and the future. It not only portrays the end of an era, but also implies the coming of a new age."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR. This visual documentation was gathered by Dakshita Bishnoi a long-standing member of the Project Synergy community. Dakshita is a Visual Researcher from India. Her varied interests make her oscillate between research, writing, art and design with an interdisciplinary approach.