Women Photographers You Should Watch in 2022

Here is an overview of the three best contemporary women photographers represented by Imitate Modern in London. All three of these artists use sex, gender or the female form somehow. Although they all explore femininity from a different view, it is refreshing to see women take back ownership of the female body and use it to explore how women have been represented in the media and society. 

Top 3 Female Photographs 

Nana del Riego

Del Riego focuses on self-portraits and the use of the female form in her work. As she was born and grew up in Havana, Cuba, Nana holds a unique perspective of the world. Using her experience of growing up with minimal media outside of Cuba and her academic background in fine art, del Riego is able to use colour, and her subjects are truly unique and exceptional. 

Nana del Riego’s work is perfect for brightening up your home or office space as she uses bright, inviting colours and combines different subjects to create a masterpiece that you can look at for hours.

Read more about Nana del Riego in our previous post, ‘Cuban Artists Everyone Should Know About’ on the Imitate Modern blog. 

Mairi-Luise Tabbakh 

As mentioned in our previous post, ‘5 World Famous Photographers You Should Know About’, Mairi-Luise Tabbakh is an erotic photographer who also uses the female form in her work. However, Mairi-Luise and Nana del Riego have very different styles using femininity as the core subject of their work. 

Tabbakh’s work uses poses to accentuate the softness and curves of the female body while simultaneously pairing her models with typically masculine props that also enhance the femininity of the subject. Her work is exclusively in black and white to enhance the mystery of the scenes and create a sense of timelessness in the photograph.  

Dian Hanson

American artist Dian Hanson is a magazine and book editor specialising in pornographic scenes and sex. Some of her most important work to date includes being a Taschen book editor. She writes and edits all sex-based work for the company using her background as a porn magazine editor. 

Before her role in editing art books for Taschen, Hanson had spent most of her career from 1976 to 2001 producing men’s magazines. Her erotic photography and unique eye for appealing to her target audience have seen her thrive in the industry. 

FAQ

Who was the first female photographer?

Anna Atkins (B. 1799) is thought to be the first woman in photography. Her images are mainly based on botanical elements, and she is said to have created over 10,000 pictures during her photography career. 

Who is the most famous female photographer throughout history? 

Here are five well-known female photographers from history worth learning about:

• Anna Atkins: Naturally, Atkins being the mother of photography is one of the most famous women photographers in history. 
• Lee Miller: Miller is an American photographer who moved from being in front of the lens to behind it when she discovered a love for photography after working as a war correspondent for Vogue in the Second World War. 
• Christina Broom: As the first female press photographer, Christina Broom is well known for taking photographs of soldiers that resided near her house before and during the first World War. She was also established enough that she was able to photograph the King and the Prince of Wales during her outstanding career.  
• Claude Cahun: Cahun is a French surrealist photographer who has been a prominent name in the industry since the 1920s. Her work during the Second World War is also particularly notable as she used her photography skills to print anti-Nazi propaganda. As one of the few women to produce surrealist photographs pre-1950s, Cahun is truly ahead of her time and someone to take note of. 
• Dorothea Lange: The Depression-era of the 1930s may have hit the world with economic hardship, but this period gave Lange a name in history as a documentary photographer that perfectly captured the decade. Like many other famous female photographers on this list, Dorothea also photographed World War II and was instructed to take photos of the Japanese internment camps in America. 

Of course, we could have chosen countless others in the category of ‘women artists’, and it’s worth reading this article by Culture Trip about women photographers in history if you are interested in this topic.  

What percentage of all photography is woman photography? 

Female photography makes up just over half of all photography, with 52.6% of professionals in the industry being women, which may be surprising considering that men dominated the industry. Hopefully, in the 21st-century, women will finally get the recognition they deserve. 

How to Purchase Work from an Up and Coming or Famous Women Photographer

Now is the time to enlighten your space with a piece of artwork from female artists. Imitate Modern specialises in dealing with contemporary artwork that challenges current norms and gives women back the power over their bodies. 

When you choose a piece of art from an artist represented by Imitate Modern, you will own a small piece of this artist’s history and can be part of the ever-changing world of redefining what it means to be a woman. As we work with photographers who have been practising their craft for 40+ years and newly emerging artists, we are confident that we have an artist on our books that is exactly what you are looking to invest in. 

If you have any questions about any of the other artists represented by the Imitate Modern Gallery in London, please feel free to get in contact with our gallery curators to discuss your needs and requirements – we are happy to help!