I am interested in an image’s capacity to hold meaning, to elicit emotion, and to inspire action.
Ever since its invention in the 19th century, photography has documented life. At the same time, it focuses on inviting audiences to a rather subjective world, while trying to be taken seriously as an art form. Photography has always been considered a male-dominated profession, but luckily things are changing. Scholars, writers, bloggers, photography students, and enthusiasts have been giving due to the female pioneers of the field. Most were always standing and/or hiding in the shadows, oblivious to how much they could acclaim and accomplish. Arguably, the techniques, concepts, and thematic female photographers use differ from those of male photographers. At a time when most women were convinced that their place was in the kitchen and certainly not in the dark room, some were struggling to surpass their male counterparts and work towards gaining respect and recognition for their work.
Janelle Lynch (American artist, and photographer, 1969-) is renowned for using a large format camera and alternative processes in the discovery of ecological, spiritual, and human connection. Combining portraits and nature imagery, Lynch's work explores and imagines a world that centers beauty, connection, and empathy as foundational values and healing forces.
Her photographs and cyanotypes have been shown worldwide and are in many private and public collections, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; the International Center of Photography, New York; and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Lynch has three Radius Books monographs: Los Jardines de México (2010); AIGA award-winning Barcelona (2013), which also features her writings; and Another Way of Looking at Love (2018), which includes an essay by Darius Himes, International Head of Photographs, Christie's. Her work has been featured in publications including Harper's Magazine, Photograph Magazine, and The Guardian, and she is the recipient of several honors and grants, including three from Kodak. In 2019, her series, Another Way of Looking at Love, was shortlisted for the Prix Pictet, the leading award in photography and sustainability.
A related exhibition opened at the Victoria and Albert Museum and traveled to nine international venues. In 2023, Flowers Gallery opened a critically acclaimed exhibition of Endless Forms Most Beautiful in London. And this year, Janelle Lynch: Endless Forms Most Beautiful, a short documentary film by Mia Allen premiered in New York City. Lynch is represented by Flowers Gallery. She teaches at the International Center of Photography and lives in New York City and Amagansett, New York.
I am curious about how the photographic event creates a unique connection between myself and my subject – another human being or the natural world – and how that has the potential to alter perception and the relationship of the viewer to their world.
We will continue talking about female names that left their mark on photography and about contemporary female photographers who are still to emerge. There are a lot of female photographers out there deserving of praise and we can only hope to cover as many of them as we can. Please follow this space to find out more.
