A new exciting archive initiative

The Missing Persona project is a new cornerstone initiative designed to help rectify historical gender bias in the arts. For over a century, the creative contributions of women in photography have been systemically obscured, with many artists being relegated to the status of a “muse,” “assistant,” or simply “the wife of” a more famous male counterpart.

This project hopes to empower a new generation of Digital Detectives to use modern investigative journalism and digital forensics to uncover these “missing” identities* and restore their rightful place in history. The women are drawn from our extensive collection of magazine tear sheets of portraits by women photographers.

The Core Philosophy: “From Muse to Maker”

  • The Mission: To find the woman hidden in the “white space” of male-centric biographies.
  • The Goal: To produce multimedia profiles (articles, photo essays, short films) where the the women are the headlines, not the footnote
  • Theme: Investigative Journalism & Historical Reclamation

* We know that some of the sitters were very young when they appeared in these magazines, and that their achievements may have been later in their lives. Nonetheless, the exercise still highlights how women were framed by the men in their lives.

Join our detective team!

Online: Choose an image from our Cold Case files and research the sitter and send your findings to hello@hundredheroines.org
In the museum: Ask one of the team to show you the cold cases

Active Case Files

These are active “Missing Persona” case files and therefore the notes, text and imagery are incomplete.  If you can find more information on any of these case files then please let us know!

ActiveCase FilesMissing Persona
6th March 2026

MP-001-The Countess Of Carlisle

The Countess of Carlisle, formerly the Hon. Bridget Hore-Ruthven, photographed by Yevonde, was far more than just the wife, daughter and sister that she has been listed as in The Sketch.

Join Our Sleuths

Become a Digital Detective!

Name(Required)

This project has been made possible through the generous support of
Nailsworth Town Council and Canon Young People Programme

Canon logo

Find out more about the Canon Young People Programme