Helen Trompeteler is a Curator of Photography with over fifteen years experience working with museum collections, galleries and arts organisations. In 2016, Helen was awarded the Josef Breitenbach Research Fellowship at the Center for Creative Photography, University of Arizona.
Her exhibitions and books include Audrey Hepburn: Portraits of an Icon (Co-Curator, 2015) and Man Ray Portraits (Assistant Curator, 2013). Past displays include Snowdon: A Life in View (2014), Fred Daniels: Cinema Portraits (2012) and Format Photography Agency (2010).
Helen’s writing has been published internationally including texts for artist monographs, exhibition catalogues and magazines including Aesthetica, Of the Afternoon and Photomonitor. She has lectured on the history of photography for organisations including Central Saint Martins, Regent’s University London and Sotheby’s Institute of Art.
Mary Turner
Her long-term projects focus on communities less represented by the mainstream media. This includes ‘Dispossessed’ which focuses on communities in former coal mining towns in the north of England.
Julia Rendleman
Julia Rendleman whose photojournalism has covered issues including water, climate and health. Nominated for her investigation of drug policy as it relates to women, and her focus on peer-to-peer recovery.
Meet the Journalists: Julia Rendleman and Moriah Balingit
Özge Sebzeci
Journalist and photographer, whose work since 2014 has specialised in women’s rights. Her current work focuses on child marriage and the lives of Syrian refugee families in Turkey.
Amak Mahmoodian
Iranian photographer, filmmaker and curator Amak Mahmoodian. Projects such as Shenasnameh (publ. 2016) explore the complexities of identity, and the intersection between the personal and universal.
Shenasnameh by Amak Mahmoodian
Susan Meiselas
Has remained at the forefront of #photojournalism for over four decades. Her best known work includes her coverage in Nicaragua in the 1970s, which she later returned to for film Pictures from a Revolution (1991).
Susan Meiselas: Carnival Strippers
Tina Modotti
Historically was often overshadowed by her connection to Edward Weston. While her time as a photographer was brief, her photographs embodied her deep political conviction and the revolutionary spirit of her time.
Jill Freedman
Her seven books include Resurrection City. This book documented the Poor People’s Campaign of 1968, the daily lives of her fellow demonstrators and their camp in Washington which became a symbol of the movement.
Street Cops by Jill Freedman
Debi Cornwall
Her 12 year career as a wrongful conviction lawyer informs her work which examines American power and identity in the post 9/11 era, such as in ‘Welcome to Camp America’ (2017) on Guantánamo Bay.
DEBI CORNWALL, WELCOME TO CAMP AMERICA_Nuit de l’Année 2017
Margaret Bourke-White
Life Magazine’s first female staff photographer. Her groundbreaking #photojournalism depicted modern industry, the Great Depression, combat zones during WWII and world events throughout the 1920s-50s.
Margaret Bourke-White: Creating a Window to Industry
Christina Broom
Recognised as Britain’s first female press photographer. From 1903-39, she documented a period of immense social change including the suffrage movement and military life.
Soldiers and Suffragettes: The Photography of Christina Broom
Eve Arnold
The first woman to join @MagnumPhotos. While often remembered for intimate portraits of celebrities, her work documented social issues on a global scale incl. American civil rights movement and political prisoners in Russia.
Eve Arnold: Personalities (Magnum Photos)
Markéta Luskačová
whose photographs documented life in remote Slovakian villages and London’s East End markets. During the 1970s + 1980s she endured her work being banned by communist censorship in Czechoslovakia.
Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen
A founder member of @Amber_Films. She is perhaps best known for her seminal documentation of the community of terraced streets in Newcastle demolished to make way for the Byker Wall Estate in the 1970s.
The Girl on a Spacehopper - short film
Jane Bown
Worked across all areas of #photojournalism for the Observer, with her distinctive pared back method using available light. She is remembered especially for her insightful portraits. (Samuel Beckett, 1976)
Jane Bown
Shirley Baker
One of very few women street photographers in post-war England. Her compassionate and compelling record of working class communities particularly focused on the lives of women and children.
Anna Douglas on Shirley Baker: Women and Children; and Loitering Men
Renée Mussai
Her curatorial activism which focuses on photography in relation to social justice, cultural identity, race and human rights. (Installation view: Black Chronicles II. Photo credit: Keri-Luke Campbell)
Portraits of black Britons unearthed after 125 years in new exhibition
Helen Gee
Helen Gee, whose Limelight gallery was the first enduring space devoted exclusively to photography in post-war New York. From 1954-1961, many of the 100+ photographers Gee exhibited defined mid-century American photography.
Melissa Catanese
Co-founder of the influential #photobook store Spaces Corners in Pittsburgh, and an artist whose practice is focused on recontextualising vernacular archives.
Melissa Catanese
Lisa M. Robinson
Her exploration of the landscape which often challenges perceptions of space and place. Recent series Terrestra focuses on abstract contemplative details of geological transformation. https://www.lisamrobinson.com/
Fryslan door andere ogen | Lisa M. Robinson
Dr. Deborah Willis
Nominated for her pioneering and continuing work investigating and preserving the legacy of photographers of color.
Dr. Deborah Willis on #thisisbeauty campaign
Kelli Connell
‘Double Life’, made over 15 years, questions pre-conceived ideas about identity, gender roles, relationships. Her new project focuses on Charis Wilson, Edward Weston’s second wife.
Artist Talk with Kelli Connell (2011)
Natasha Caruana
Natasha Caruana’s work is concerned w/ narratives of love, betrayal and fantasy, and the influence of technology. Her fantastic work as an educator & mentor fosters a supportive and collaborative community.
Natasha Caruana
Clarisse d’Arcimoles
Her extensively researched work re-staging historical photographs through performance or installations, and her sustained exploration of time, memory, place and history.
FORGOTTEN TALE - SHORT VERSION
Lydia Goldblatt
‘Still Here’ (Hatje Cantz, 2013); a tender, understated but powerful exploration of family love and time’s passing.
Lydia Goldblatt - Still here
Samantha Box
Samantha Box’s long-term series ‘Invisible’ documents the lives and communities of homeless LGBTQI young adults in New York City. Interview from 2013 here: http://blog.ciis.edu/my_weblog/2013/01/en-focoin-focus-samantha-box.html
Moving Walls 18: Samantha Box
Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe
Photographer and activist Jeanne Moutoussamy-Ashe whose work incl. the book Viewfinders (1986). The first collection to document the work of black women image makers from 1839-1985, the book reshaped existing histories of photography.
Graciela Iturbide
Documenting the daily lives, cultures and rituals of Mexico’s underrepresented native cultures. Series include Juchitán (1979-1988) which explored women’s central role in Zapotec culture.
Zarina Bhimji
Her photographic and film work which often uses the texture and sound of deserted architecture and landscapes to explore complex political histories and themes incl. colonialism, displacement and migration.
Laura El-Tantawy
Whose books include In The Shadow of the Pyramids (2015); a personal exploration of memory and identity and a vital document of the protests that culminated in the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. www.intheshadowofthepyramids.com
Eve by Laura El-Tantawy
Jo Metson Scott
Whose long term projects include The Grey Line (2013); a powerful reflection on war told from the perspective of US and UK soldiers who spoke out against the Iraq War, combining portraits with their written testimonies.
Jo Metson Scott - The Grey Line
Michelle Agins
Michelle Agins joined @nytimes in 1989. After Pulitzer Prize nominations for work on Bensonhust protests (1990) and Another America: Life on 129th Street (1995); she won a Pulitzer w/ colleagues in 2001 for series How Race is Lived in America.
NYTimes.com - On Assignment with Michele Agins
Bobbi Baker Burrows
For 40+ years, former LIFE photo editor Bobbi Baker Burrows championed its photojournalists, shared her knowledge + friendship. Later introduced new generations to LIFE’s archive. One of the kindest women I ever met.
Lee Miller
Lee Miller was one of only four female photojournalists accredited to US forces during World War II. Her photographs of liberation of Buchenwald and Dachau are among her most important work. More on her life here: https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/lee-millers-second-world-war
Kate Adie on Lee Miller: A Woman's War
Dr Patrizia Di Bello
whose books examining 19C women’s albums have been a personal influence. Her far reaching teaching practice incl. championing the archive of Jo Spence at Birkbeck. Recent books incl. on Sculptural Photographs.
Louise Dahl-Wolfe
Her 22 years w/ Harper’s Bazaar (1936-1958) produced 86 covers and thousands of photographs which reflected the spirit of the modern woman and embodied the ‘American look’.
Louise Dahl-Wolfe promo
Helen Levitt
Helen Levitt’s revolutionary early colour work transformed street photography. Levitt recorded everyday life with empathy and insight for moments of quiet drama and open ended mystery.
Helen Levitt: 1913-2009
Madame Yevonde
Madame Yevonde began as an apprentice to Lallie Charles, before est. her own studio in 1914. Her innovative photographs were distinctive for their mastery of the complex Vivex colour process. https://frieze.com/article/portrait-lady
Madame Yevonde: Goddesses
Marie Cosindas
During the 1960s, Marie Cosindas experimented w/ #Polaroid; proving the artistic potential of colour photography when it was associated w/ advertising + amateurs. Underrated in her time, her legacy is now reaffirmed.
theartVIEw – THE POLAROID PROJECT at WESTLICHT
Barbara Kruger
Barbara Kruger, whose signature style incorporating black + white photographic images and declarative captions directly addresses cultural and societal issues.
Picturing Barbara Kruger directed by Pippa Bianco
Hannah Höch
Hannah Höch was a pivotal artist of the Berlin Dada group. Her #photomontage compositions reflected Weimar Germany’s political + social turmoil; critiqued racial and social stereotypes; and championed the ‘New Woman’.
Hannah Höch
Claude Cahun
Surrealist photographer and writer Claude Cahun, best known for groundbreaking self-portraits which assumed multiple personae and challenged social constructions of identity and gender.
Lover Other: The Story of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore
Maud Sulter
Maud Sulter’s multilayered practice questioned the lack of representation of black women in the histories of art and photography, and critically examined the complex intertwined histories of Africa and Europe. http://www.streetlevelphotoworks.org/event/maud_sulter_passion
Ella Spencer ‘Maud Sulter: Zabat, Poetics of a Family Tree’
Madame d’Ora
Madame d’Ora was one of first women to open a studio in Vienna (1907). Her portraiture + fashion work coincided w/ evolving magazine culture. Postwar she documented the lives of refugees in Austria.
theartVIEw – Madam d'Ora at LEOPOLD MUSEUM
Marianne Breslauer
Marianne was only active as a photographer between 1927-1938, but produced a stunning body of work informed by the New Vision. Her portraits helped define the ‘new woman’ of the 1920s.
Berlinische Galerie: The photographed distance. Photographers traveling (1880-2015)
Alice Austen
Alice Austen pushed against expectations of Victorian / Edwardian society to become one of America’s earliest and most prolific photographers. Her life with partner of 53 years, Gertrude Tate, is finally more widely recognised.
Early NYC Photographer - Alice Austen
Consuelo Kanaga
Often overlooked, Consuelo Kanaga exhibited in first exhibition of Group f/64 @deyoungmuseum (1932). Lectured at #NYPhotoLeague. Later involved in civil rights movement. Read more about Consuelo Kanaga: African-American Portraitist here.
Ethel Perkins And Equila Hall - My Soul Will Be Saved
Lorna Simpson
whose photo-text installations, photo collages and films challenge narrow ideas about women, culture and race. Her constantly evolving practice has recently included painting and sculpture. Read “Making art ‘should be uncomfortable’ at theconverstion.com
Lorna Simpson Talk at the BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art
Heather Agyepong
artist and performer Heather Agyepong; nominated for her experimental approach which includes re-enacting historic photographs to challenge narratives or stereotypes such as in ‘Too Many Blackamoors’ (2015)
Black Chronicles with Heather Agyepong
Ming Smith
Was the first female member of influential photography collective #Kamoinge. Her subjects and styles have been diverse, encompassing documentary realism and surrealist techniques. More on her life here…
Ming Smith, Crystal Bridges Panel Discussion, Museum of American Art
LaToya Ruby Frazier
Whose interdisciplinary work addresses industrialism, communal history, and healthcare inequality; advocating for greater social responsibility.
LaToya Ruby Frazier: A visual history of inequality in industrial America
Carrie Mae Weems
For more than thirty years, Carrie Mae Weems has pushed for equality and social justice in investigations of family relationships, cultural identity, sexism, class, political systems. An artist w/ an extraordinary and singular aesthetic vision.
Corbis Interviews Carrie Mae Weems at 2013 LOOK3
Ingrid Pollard
A founding member of @AutographABP. Contributed to seminal exhibitions incl. The Thin Black Line (ICA 1985). Series have used portraiture & landscape to explore issues of representation and identity.
Nottingham Contemporary in conversation with Ingrid Pollard
Marion Palfi
A member of NY’s #PhotoLeague, her lifelong activism produced photo essays on social issues including racial segregation, child neglect, prison conditions and Native American displacement. Read an article on Marion from the New York Times here… or view Marion’s archive gallery at CCP, Arizona
Hazel Larsen Archer
First a student then later teacher of photography at #BlackMountainCollege, her insightful images are an invaluable record of BMC at its peak of creativity and innovation.
Listen Before You Look: Helen Molesworth and Ruth Erickson on Black Mountain College
Marion Post Wolcott
Became first full time female photographer for #FSA (Lange was P/T). From 1938-42 she produced 9,000+ photographs showing the extremes of the country’s rich and poor, and its race relations.
Documenting the Dust Bowl: Female Photographers of the FSA
Val Wilmer
Her writings & photographs are an exceptional social history of post-war jazz, blues and R&B. Also important collector of rare portraits reflecting black lives in 19C Britain. Listen to “A Portrait of Val Wilmer” from BBC Radio 3
Black Chronicles with Val Wilmer
Wendy Ewald
pioneer of collaborative photography. For almost 50 years, she has combined photography, activism and education in collaborations worldwide which challenge conventional ideas of authorship.
Wendy Ewald - DOX Interview
Joanne O’Brien
for her documentary work which has included recording the lives of the Irish in Britain, and book ‘A Matter of Minutes’ (2002) about the grief, loss and survivors of Bloody Sunday. Visit Joanne O’Brien’s website
The Kindness of Trees
Jo Spence
Jo Spence’s life was committed to politicised photography. Co-est. Hackney Flashers. Developed phototherapy w/ Rosy Martin. Spence’s practice empowered women to take control of their lives and bodies; often redefining gender roles.
Jo Spence: The Feminist Photography of a Cultural Sniper
Val Williams
Hard to summarise her enormous contributions. Cofounder @ImpGalleryPhoto; developed oral histories of photography @britishlibrary; Director @PARC_UAL. Numerous exhibitions and books which remain touchstones in my knowledge.
Storage
Melanie Friend
@MelanieFriend57 whose work combining sound and still images focuses directly or indirectly on conflict and war. Most recently The Home Front reflects on the normalisation of war in our culture. Visit Melanie’s website.
Melanie Friend: The Home Front
Grace Robertson
With few women working in photojournalism in ‘50s, she began w/ pseudonym Dick Muir. Photographing post-war Britain for #PicturePost, she especially documented women & their communities. (Image from series Mother’s Day Off)
Grace Robertson: Five Women Photographers (1986)
Dorothy Bohm
For her pursuit of humanity and hope in the aftermath of war; and her unique record of the world during seven decades of photography. Associate Director @TPGallery during its first 15 years. Visit Dorothy’s website.
Life in Pictures: Dorothy Bohm
Qiana Mestrich
Next #HundredHeroines is Qiana @mestrich; who advocates for a more inclusive history of photography through her own practice and Dodge & Burn. Her work often incl. reactivating archival photography to challenge historical constructions of race and gender. Visit Qiana’s website here.
Bloodlines: Qiana Mestrich
Marilyn Stafford
Marilyn Stafford whose long career incl. documenting the lives of Algerian refugees in Tunisia. Now supporting a new generation of female photographers w/ a solutions-focused photography award addressing global issues.
I shot Einstein
Rawi’ya Collective
A collective of six photographers from the Middle East, pushing back against stereotypes and changing perceptions of how women and the region are portrayed.
Rawiya Collective
Zanele Muholi
Photographer and visual activist Zanele Muholi who tirelessly uses her practice to effect social change; documenting the lives of LGTBQI individuals in South Africa; and confronting the politics of race and representation through self-portraiture.
Zanele Muholi, Visual Activist
