Women Photojournalists: Trials, Triumphs

There are many cases where women and men are not seen as equals. In some places, this is apart of their culture. In other places, society has failed to grow out of their misogynistic ways despite continued efforts. A specific woman that embodies women’s empowerment is Farzana Wahidy, and Afghan photojournalist who refuses to wear a burka like the other women. She was beaten because of this choice by male members of the Taliban, yet she stood by her choice of never wearing a burka. She took one specific amazing photo from inside a burka and gave the world a different perspective of what it is like to have to see through a mesh screen, seeing a blurry world. 

Photo by: Unknown

Year created: 2007

Another example of a woman in photojournalism is Meridith Kohut. Meredith is an American photojournalist based in Venezuela. Every day she documents the humanitarian and economic crisis in Venezuela. “Photographing thousands of people waiting in bread lines, patients dying from medicine shortages in collapsed public hospitals, people clashing with security forces in violent, anti-government street protests, laboring in illegal gold mines and getting smuggled alongside cocaine out of the country in small boats.” Her work was published in The New York Times and is the biggest photographic archive of the tragedy made by a single photojournalist. Her Venezuela piece has been recognized by The Overseas Press Club, The George Polk Journalism Awards and Pictures of The Year International. Her photo essay that showed hundreds of children dying from severe child malnutrition in hospitals received recognization for the Pulitzer Prize in Feature Photography in 2018. Although her work speaks great measures, she had to witness a lot of horrible things in order to open the eyes of the world. Therefore because of her job she made great sacrifices. One of those would be moving to a more underdeveloped place, Venezuela. 

Photo by: Meridith Kohut
Year Created: 2015

Like Meredith Kohut, Lindsey Addario was taking photos abroad. She was in Libya where she was abducted with 3 other male photojournalists. While she was there she experienced the most extreme version of sexism. While the men that were abducted were beaten in captivity, as the only woman, Lindsey was subjected to sexual violence. Because of this experience, she has gained a new perspective on women, men, and gender interactions. She now believes that women photojournalists should no longer cover war because of the position they are putting themselves in with the possibility of being abducted and sexually abused. Someone who contradicts her opinions is Frenchwoman Catherine Leroy who is supposedly the only photojournalist of any gender to parachute in with American troops in the midst of a war. In almost every way, women seem to be subject to different treatment than men no matter the location. 

Photo by: Unknown

Year Created: 2019

Somewhere growing up that I always noticed a difference between the unequal treatment of men and women was in sports. I always noticed that in my household and in every other household I went to, people watched male sports. I have never seen an NWBA game, or a female professional hockey game, I’ve never seen a game of softball or watched women’s golf. This isn’t my parent’s fault, it just the way society is. Since I am a soccer player, I always loved women’s soccer. It’s a different type of game than men’s soccer. It is slower-paced, more aggressive and a lot more defending. Last year was the first year that the women’s national team started to fight back about getting equal pay.  The women’s team has won 4 straight gold medals, eight CONCAFF Gold Cups and four World Cups, despite his, they are paid less than the very unsuccessful male team. One example is, “If the Men’s National Team won the World Cup they would’ve have received a 38 million dollar bonus, and in 2015 the women eared a 2 million dollar bonus and in 2018 the women received a 4 million dollar bonus,” says Forbes Magazine. Forbes Magazine also states that “When playing in non-tournament games (aka “friendlies”), the pay structure for the WNT was lower than the men’s team. For example, if each team played 20 friendlies and won all of their games, the WNT player would earn $4,950 per game while the male  players would earn $13,166 per game.”  Although with this example there is only a difference between salaries and money bonuses, there are many more stories like Lindsey Addarios where a woman is abused emotionally, sexually and physically to man only being subjected to physical abuse. This unequal treatment will scar and change a woman’s perspective for the rest of her life. 

Image #1 Principles-
Photo by: Unknown
Year created: 2007
Principle #1: This picture has a main subject. The main subject is centered in the image because she is meant to be the only thing the viewer pays attention to. The photographer did this so the viewer can focus on only the subject without any other distractions.
Principle #2: The photographer used a simple background. The photographer did this because this is a portrait and the viewer focus is only supposed to be on person in the portrait. The simple white background lets the subject stand out in a black shirt.
Principle #3: The picture is in black and white. It contributes to the simplism of the photo. I think they did this because when there is less for the eye to take in, it can just focus on the subject.
I chose this image because it was a good portrait of Meredith. This portrait used principles that I could explain in this exercise. The picture also helped the read put a face to a name when reading my essay.

Image #2 Principles-
Photo by: Meridith Kohut
Year Created: 2015
Principle #1: In this photo the photographer uses lines. The lines of the telephone wires and the lines of the edges of the house run into each other and intersect. The lines add another dimension to the photo.
Principle #2: The photographer uses depth of field in the picture because everything in the photo is sharp and not blurred out. The photographer could have done this to show everyone's equal facial expression. It shows how important each individual is.
Principle #3: Even though the picture is in black and white there is a lot of contrast. The subject in the center of the photo has a white shirt which makes her stand out more. There is a good mixture of whites, grays and black that make up the photo.
I chose this image because my essay was on women and there are only women pictured in this photo. Their pain is what I described many women feel when being discriminated against. This picture spoke to me.


Image #3 Principles-

Photo by: Unknown

Year Created: 2019

Principle #1: In the last image, the photographer used color because of the vibrancy of the mood. The color in this photo makes certain things stand out like the numbers are the same blue as the background. The bright red makes the players stand out in the background

Principle#2: I feel happiness in this photo through the subjects' expressions and body language. They are jumping together and smiling which implies they feel joy. They are playing a soccer game so I imagine someone scored or they won. 

I chose this image because it was of the team that I described in my last paragraph. Also in this image, there are many principles used that I could explain well. But, overall this picture gives a visual representation of what I was describing in my paragraph.