ON HISTORY
Since its inception in early 1830, photography has been gender-neutral, although an activity that was rather inaccessible to the general public. Such scientists and researchers as Constance Fox Talbot, Anna Atkins, Lady Clementina Hawarden, Julia Margaret Cameron had pioneered this profession. As early as the 1890s, Kodak advertisers campaigned to appeal to a new clientele: women photographers [5]. At the turn of the century, an embodiment of a New Woman ideal made its way into advertising with Kodak Girl [6] — a fashionista with a camera, a symbol of an entire generation of women seeking economic independence, sexual freedom, and increased social pull. The camera was gradually becoming an attribute of an emancipated woman, along with the bicycles, short haircuts, cigarettes, pants, and "skin scent" perfumes.
In comparison, the process of emancipation in the Russian Empire was much slower, although we count 22 women and 26 men in the archival photos of Odesa Photographic Society in 1911. With the absorption of Ukraine into the USSR, the Soviet government had officially matched women and men regarding professional occupations, thus actively involving the former group in its labor force since 1917. In the early years of the Soviet system, speci al campaigns to master "non-female" professions were directed at women. In addition to heavy metallurgy, mining, the list also included filmmaking and camera work. During the first decade of the Soviet Union, women were allowed to acquire professional skills in the film industry and photography. The network of amateur photo groups was also active in involving women, although according to archival data of the early 1930s, the female-male ratio at such groups in Soviet Kyiv was much lower than during the imperial times. For example, the Ukrainian Photographic Society (also known as the Union of Photo-Amateurs of Western Ukraine), which existed in Lviv during 1930–1939, had two women among its 24 members — Mechyslava Hanytska and Yaroslava "Yarka" Protsiv [7].
After the end of World War II, a political reversal to the traditional patriarchal perception of the woman happened in the Soviet Union: a worker, mother, and caring wife. In the 1960s and 1980s, in response to the emergence of the new popular Soviet hobby of photography, a large network of photo clubs emerged, yet female membership remained low. And it was at this time that women and children became one of the most popular objects of amateur and professional photography in the Soviet Union.
BACK TO THE CAUSES
The confusion of the 1990s over gender roles, scientific discourses, and, in particular, the feminist-focused art, is primarily related to the transformation of woman's image on the brink of the collapse of the Soviet system and acquisition of independence by the countries of the former Union. Soviet double standards, which, despite officially stated gender equality, ensured the existence of a glass ceiling and non-traditional, 'non-female' careers, have long remained in the post-Soviet consciousness even after the collapse of the USSR. Simultaneously, feminism was interpreted by Ukrainian populists as an aggressive concept designed to destroy the ordinary gender norms which they perceived as characteristic of post-Soviet society. Hence the distorted interpretation of feminist ideas, defamation of the movement, which in the context of art is primarily aimed at the professional manifestation of women beyond that of objects and idols present in art.
For example, a woman (as an idol, as a feminine concept) occupies a special place in the practice of the Kharkiv School of Photography in the 1970s-90s. Women here acted as models, wives, and muses. In fact, because of the complication to get new nude art models during Soviet time, photos of Kharkiv School depict the same girls — the reason why we often see the wives of photographers. Researcher Kateryna Yakovlenko writes that apart from the constant depiction of female body women were absent from photography of Kharkiv School: "... what one of the authors of Kharkiv School described as the creation of his body sign system is now read through feminist discourse as sexual objectification [17]."
Only in the 90s have the women acquired some substance in the work of Kharkiv School. For example, Vita Mikhailova was a member of the Rapid Response Group, which collectively created photographic projects during 1994–1996. Even though women were members of the Kharkiv School, and were part of its social circle, none have later pursued artistic practice independently. For example, Valentyna Bilousova [18], a photographer whose works were exhibited in Kharkiv in the 1980s along with works by Borys Mykhailov, Yevhen Pavlov, photographers of the Kharkiv group Vremya, and others, explains that she quickly left art photography because she felt professional pressure from male colleagues as well as fierce competition of the Kharkiv photo community [19].
The psychological aspect is the third and less articulated reason for the absence of women photographers in Ukrainian art — many women artists left the practice as soon after the start. The reason was often an underestimation of their own work in comparison to the work done by the men who surrounded and mentored them. Women could take pictures of flowers, children, passers-by, or random daily street scenes, then avoid showing the results to anyone, and continue to think that it all was dwarfed by someone else's talent. Historian Sofia Dyak accurately remarks on the need to explore topics through a certain focus, in particular a feminist one, in order to identify them in the first place: "... [only] then we see culture not as a series of great works, but as an environment, as a process, as a relationship. This not only expands our canon but also has the potential to change the way we perceive culture. And the question is, how do we get these women out of these canonical vaults?" [20]
The history of world photography is described and researched through the scope of male and female photographers who have formed and developed the industry during the XIX-XX centuries. Alongside great male names attributed to this art, women have also done their part. We speak of Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Eva Arnold, Margaret Burke-White, Diane Arbus, Francesca Woodman, Leni Riefenstahl, Sally Mann, Annie Leibovitz. It is important to understand that the worldwide recognition of women photographers is the result of a large number of scientific investigations and thematic works done by photography researchers all around the world to determine the place of women authors in the history of this industry.
Ukrainian women photographers of the early XXth century, imitating the behavioral patterns of male photographers, intuitively fought over a place in this business, with the exception of those who by definition existed outside the industry and developed in their own cultural isolation. There are no statistics that could tell us the number of women authors who left photography because of social prejudices, self-censorship, or psychological pressure. And those who managed to establish themselves as photographers deliberately avoided the emotional connotation in their work in favor of showing resolve, challenging danger, and aiming for significance. All this so as not to provoke indulgent ridicule of femininity in their own works; and also to appear like men, to be heard and become part of the industry that was run by them.
Halyna Hleba
Based on PinchukArtCentre Research Platform materials.
Read the full story in SALIUT magazine.
Since its inception in early 1830, photography has been gender-neutral, although an activity that was rather inaccessible to the general public. Such scientists and researchers as Constance Fox Talbot, Anna Atkins, Lady Clementina Hawarden, Julia Margaret Cameron had pioneered this profession. As early as the 1890s, Kodak advertisers campaigned to appeal to a new clientele: women photographers [5]. At the turn of the century, an embodiment of a New Woman ideal made its way into advertising with Kodak Girl [6] — a fashionista with a camera, a symbol of an entire generation of women seeking economic independence, sexual freedom, and increased social pull. The camera was gradually becoming an attribute of an emancipated woman, along with the bicycles, short haircuts, cigarettes, pants, and "skin scent" perfumes.
In comparison, the process of emancipation in the Russian Empire was much slower, although we count 22 women and 26 men in the archival photos of Odesa Photographic Society in 1911. With the absorption of Ukraine into the USSR, the Soviet government had officially matched women and men regarding professional occupations, thus actively involving the former group in its labor force since 1917. In the early years of the Soviet system, speci al campaigns to master "non-female" professions were directed at women. In addition to heavy metallurgy, mining, the list also included filmmaking and camera work. During the first decade of the Soviet Union, women were allowed to acquire professional skills in the film industry and photography. The network of amateur photo groups was also active in involving women, although according to archival data of the early 1930s, the female-male ratio at such groups in Soviet Kyiv was much lower than during the imperial times. For example, the Ukrainian Photographic Society (also known as the Union of Photo-Amateurs of Western Ukraine), which existed in Lviv during 1930–1939, had two women among its 24 members — Mechyslava Hanytska and Yaroslava "Yarka" Protsiv [7].
After the end of World War II, a political reversal to the traditional patriarchal perception of the woman happened in the Soviet Union: a worker, mother, and caring wife. In the 1960s and 1980s, in response to the emergence of the new popular Soviet hobby of photography, a large network of photo clubs emerged, yet female membership remained low. And it was at this time that women and children became one of the most popular objects of amateur and professional photography in the Soviet Union.
BACK TO THE CAUSES
The confusion of the 1990s over gender roles, scientific discourses, and, in particular, the feminist-focused art, is primarily related to the transformation of woman's image on the brink of the collapse of the Soviet system and acquisition of independence by the countries of the former Union. Soviet double standards, which, despite officially stated gender equality, ensured the existence of a glass ceiling and non-traditional, 'non-female' careers, have long remained in the post-Soviet consciousness even after the collapse of the USSR. Simultaneously, feminism was interpreted by Ukrainian populists as an aggressive concept designed to destroy the ordinary gender norms which they perceived as characteristic of post-Soviet society. Hence the distorted interpretation of feminist ideas, defamation of the movement, which in the context of art is primarily aimed at the professional manifestation of women beyond that of objects and idols present in art.
For example, a woman (as an idol, as a feminine concept) occupies a special place in the practice of the Kharkiv School of Photography in the 1970s-90s. Women here acted as models, wives, and muses. In fact, because of the complication to get new nude art models during Soviet time, photos of Kharkiv School depict the same girls — the reason why we often see the wives of photographers. Researcher Kateryna Yakovlenko writes that apart from the constant depiction of female body women were absent from photography of Kharkiv School: "... what one of the authors of Kharkiv School described as the creation of his body sign system is now read through feminist discourse as sexual objectification [17]."
Only in the 90s have the women acquired some substance in the work of Kharkiv School. For example, Vita Mikhailova was a member of the Rapid Response Group, which collectively created photographic projects during 1994–1996. Even though women were members of the Kharkiv School, and were part of its social circle, none have later pursued artistic practice independently. For example, Valentyna Bilousova [18], a photographer whose works were exhibited in Kharkiv in the 1980s along with works by Borys Mykhailov, Yevhen Pavlov, photographers of the Kharkiv group Vremya, and others, explains that she quickly left art photography because she felt professional pressure from male colleagues as well as fierce competition of the Kharkiv photo community [19].
The psychological aspect is the third and less articulated reason for the absence of women photographers in Ukrainian art — many women artists left the practice as soon after the start. The reason was often an underestimation of their own work in comparison to the work done by the men who surrounded and mentored them. Women could take pictures of flowers, children, passers-by, or random daily street scenes, then avoid showing the results to anyone, and continue to think that it all was dwarfed by someone else's talent. Historian Sofia Dyak accurately remarks on the need to explore topics through a certain focus, in particular a feminist one, in order to identify them in the first place: "... [only] then we see culture not as a series of great works, but as an environment, as a process, as a relationship. This not only expands our canon but also has the potential to change the way we perceive culture. And the question is, how do we get these women out of these canonical vaults?" [20]
The history of world photography is described and researched through the scope of male and female photographers who have formed and developed the industry during the XIX-XX centuries. Alongside great male names attributed to this art, women have also done their part. We speak of Imogen Cunningham, Dorothea Lange, Eva Arnold, Margaret Burke-White, Diane Arbus, Francesca Woodman, Leni Riefenstahl, Sally Mann, Annie Leibovitz. It is important to understand that the worldwide recognition of women photographers is the result of a large number of scientific investigations and thematic works done by photography researchers all around the world to determine the place of women authors in the history of this industry.
Ukrainian women photographers of the early XXth century, imitating the behavioral patterns of male photographers, intuitively fought over a place in this business, with the exception of those who by definition existed outside the industry and developed in their own cultural isolation. There are no statistics that could tell us the number of women authors who left photography because of social prejudices, self-censorship, or psychological pressure. And those who managed to establish themselves as photographers deliberately avoided the emotional connotation in their work in favor of showing resolve, challenging danger, and aiming for significance. All this so as not to provoke indulgent ridicule of femininity in their own works; and also to appear like men, to be heard and become part of the industry that was run by them.
Halyna Hleba
Based on PinchukArtCentre Research Platform materials.
Read the full story in SALIUT magazine.
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