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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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...

Marie Cosindas

By Paula: A pioneer of colour polaroids in the 1960s, American photographer Marie Cosindas (1923-2017) helped launch colour photography as an artform....

Marie Hansen

Marie Hansen

Marie Hansen (1918 – 1969) was one of LIFE Magazine’s pioneering female photographers of the 1940s and 1950s....

Marie Høeg

A prominent member of the Norwegian feminist movement in Horton, Marie Høeg along with partner Bolette Berg, experimented with gender identity and performance....

Marion Palfi

Marion Palfi was a German American social documentary photographer, focusing on discrimination and civil rights within America...

Marion Post Wolcott_Women_In_Photography_Black_And_White_Photography_Hundred_Heroines

Marion Post Wolcott

After studying under Trude Fleischmann in Vienna, Marion Post Wolcott (1910-1990) traveled back to America to document the rural south...