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A few thoughts on this piece by Yunghi Kim (and before I begin, respect to all the women that were named in this piece and not named and continue to bust your asses everyday.)
I seems like it was this quote that really touched a nerve for some women who have been working in our industry for decades: “For a very long time, we’ve been predominantly looking at the world through the experience & vision of male photographers,” Daniella Zalcman.
The quote was read by some as "gas lighting" an entire generation of woman Kim calls the "silent generation." And as revisionist history negating the pioneering work women had done in the 90s.
But here's the thing - two things can be true at the same time - we could have generations of women who have done incredible work in breaking barriers and being "firsts" AND we can still have a field and industry dominated by male photographers and a white-western lens/POV.
Both these things are true.
There could have been a heyday of women trailblazing in the late 90s and then with the industry shifting, we could have fallen into a period where folks lost jobs, the momentum slowed and new barriers were constructed.
There could have been a heyday of women trailblazing in the late 90s and then with the industry shifting, we could have fallen into a period where folks lost jobs, the momentum slowed and new barriers were constructed.
The data supports that journalism is indeed dominated by white men and that the greatest beneficiaries of diversity initiatives has been white women, these are facts: womensmediacenter.com/reports/divide…)
This is where the piece goes into an area that I think is very dangerous to the overall conversation: pitting generational experiences against each other.
There is a way to write about women that came before certain generations w/o disparaging those that are younger. The internet is infinite and there is room for everyone's story. I find it hard to argue that we can't share the space together.
But more importantly fighting over elevating individual achievements distracts from more pressing conversations we can be having on how to create a more responsible and just industry of future generations and audiences.
Asking for better gender and racial inclusion, holding ourselves and our institutions accountable, creating safer work environments and championing for better pay and contracts is something that is in our collective best interest.
el fin.
el fin.
