These International Women's Day photographs are astonishingly powerful
Women photographers have launched a curated online exhibition to mark International Women's Day (IWD) – and the images are truly powerful.
The thought-provoking work is showcased by a group known as 'f22', which was set up by the Association of Photographers (AOP) to champion women and non-binary photographers.
The digital gallery, featuring everything from shots of breastfeeding mothers to a rural community in North Dorset, explores the theme 'community and all it encompasses'.
AOP CEO Isabelle Doran says of the collaborative project, “The results are a wonderful and sensitive visual translation of the focus the photographers chose, showing a mixed visual tapestry of still and moving images, which, in essence, represents the female gaze.
"It has clearly brought the female photographers involved closer together as they shared their thoughts, knowledge and experiences, which, no doubt, will continue to flourish going forwards, with the promise of future collaborations.”
The curators of the online exhibition include Andy Greenacre, Photography Director of the Telegraph magazine, Jennie Ricketts, Former Picture Editor of the Observer Magazine, Fiona Shields, Head of Photography at the Guardian, and Jane Sherwood, News Editor, EMEA at Getty Images.
"Championing women photographers is a necessary part of the journey to equal representation in the field of editorial photography," says Sherwood. "I was really keen to see the various interpretations of community and connection in the projects undertaken."
The AOP f22 group was first created in the 1980s and then re-formed in 2019, due to demand and recognition that inequality within the photographic industry was not being addressed as it should.
Work by 15 members of the f22 group launched on Wednesday 8 March 2023 – which includes a total of 52 images and a video – can be found on the online gallery.
Here, scroll through to see some of the best shots to be enjoyed this IWD and beyond...
