Historical Heroines

Heroines of the past who were active at some point between the late 18th century and the mid-20th century.

From Alice to Yva, explore the archive of Historical Heroines and learn about the rich lives and careers of pioneering women photographers. As we continue our mission, our online archives will continue grow.

Researched, written and curated by our volunteers. If you would like to contribute to this valuable resource, sign up to volunteer today.

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Lotte Jacobi

Coming from a long line of photographers, German-born Lotte Jacobi (1896-1990) was known for her intimate, dramatic and often experimental portraits in the ‘New Vision’ style of the late 1920s and 30s. After fleeing Hitler’s Germany,...

Lou Lander Cat. 96

Lou Landauer

German photographer Lou Landauer, who was active during the 1930s - 1950s, is recognised today for her photograms of botanical subjects....

Self-portrait with a dog © Estate of Madame d'Ora, Museum for Art and Crafts Hamburg

Madame d’Ora

The most famous of the Viennese pre-war photographers was Dora Kallmus, otherwise known as Madame d’Ora...

Margaret Bourke-White

Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971), American photojournalist, war correspondent and Fortune and LIFE magazine photographer who covered events from the Great Depression, through WW2 to the Cold War...

Margaret Gross Michaelis-Sachs

Margarethe (Margaret) Gross was born in 1902 into a Jewish family in Dzieditz, near Cracow, in what was then Austria (now Poland). Her liberal upbringing led her to studying photography at the Institute of Graphic Arts and Research in...

Marianne Brandt

Marianne Brandt (1893-1983) was a celebrated Bauhaus-trained industrial designer, photographer and pioneer of Modernist photomontage. She experimented with the array of imagery available in the new illustrated press to challenge gender...

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