To mark International Women’s Day, we spoke to 13 emerging female photographers about how they hope to portray women in their work
“[My] photographs are made in collaboration with the women pictured. They are an act of coming together, sharing ideas and lived experiences. They are also a response to a culturally dispassionate gaze, loaded with the distortion of unrealistic and unrepresentative beauty standards.
“When we begin to challenge and unlearn what we have been programmed to define as beautiful, we start to unearth a more compassionate view which celebrates the differences and unique ’imperfections’ that very often tell a story about who we are and what we’ve lived through.”“I want the women I photograph to feel free: free of the burden of what others think of them, free of the masks that they put on when they go in public.
“We all see ourselves in other people’s eyes, I’m no different, but I like to try and capture real emotions, reactions and beauty. Raw and rough with no sugar coating. Everything can be so controlled these days, so I want [my subjects] to let loose, let it all out, and be as they are. With all the baggage and flaws.”“I use photography as a medium to respond and react to personal experiences. It’s a way for me to take ownership of my narrative and tell my truth.
“This is a Polaroid of my friends Ruoyi and Wenchu on a hot summer day. I suppose I am in it too, as Wenchu gazes at me over her shoulder. It is an image about empathy, female friendships and finding kinship in a foreign country.”“What drives me to be a photographer, as a female, is to further our perspective. To nurture the relationships with the people I come across and build on those experiences through my intimate portraiture.