Blog
Celebrating Women's History from Behind the Lens
February 22, 2022
Image credits, left to right: Brita V. Brookes, Buffalo Fancy Shawl ; Patty Carroll, Chandelier ; Donna Ferrato, Diane, Living with the Enemy, Minneapolis ; Darlene Kaczmarczyk, Ties that Bind: Park Ranger ; Claudia S. Liberatore, Garden Nymph #2, Joyce Tenneson, Ranunculus ; Sarah Wong, Authentic Self .
Since 1987, the month of March has been declared Women’s History Month, a celebration of women’s contributions to history, culture and society. Women’s History Month grew out of a weeklong celebration by a single school district in Sonoma, California before becoming a national reflection on the often-overlooked contributions of women to United States History.
The same can be said about the history of photography within the United States, with names like Eastman Kodak, Ansel Adams, and Richard Avedon driving the popular knowledge of photography. While not credited with the invention of photography, women have played an active role in photography since its inception. One of the first women to play a part in the development of photography was Constance Fox Talbot, who is considered to be the first woman to take a photograph. Constance worked side-by-side with her husband who invented the Calotype photographic process, an early photographic process. Around the same time, Anna Atkins was experimenting with the cyanotype process and botanical specimens. She published the first book ever photobook—a book primarily featuring photographic images.
The GVSU Art Gallery would like honor and recognize all the amazing women artists of the GVSU art collection beyond just the month of March, but we take this opportunity, Women’s History Month, to highlight a few of the women photographers in our collection.
Brita V. Brookes (b. 1967)
Born in Detroit, Michigan, Brita V. Brookes has pursued careers
in architectural design and graphic design, but always comes back to
her passion for photography and photojournalism. Brookes has found
herself immersed in a number of different cultures with her camera,
from the music scene of Michigan to local tribal communities. Brookes'
Native American imagery comes directly from first hand experiences
participating in Pow Wows of the Three Fires Confederacy area of
Michigan and Ontario. Although not of Native American heritage
herself, she has actively been involved in Native American communities
across the country.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/2900.
Patty Carroll (b. 1946)
Since the 1970s, Chicago-based photographer Patty Carroll has
been known for her use of highly intense, often life size, saturated
color photographs. Especially in her most recent collection, many of
Carroll’s images address women and their complicated relationships
with domesticity and the perceived obsession of collecting, designing
and decorating. Her photographs of draped women camouflaged by
domestic items create a humorous game of seek-and-find between the
viewer and the anonymous woman in the image.
To learn more
visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/25.
Donna Ferrato (b. 1949)
Donna Ferrato is an internationally recognized photojournalist
and activist best known for her documentation of the hidden world of
domestic violence. Her first book, “Living With the Enemy,” documents
her time in New York City photographing the heady nightclub culture at
legendary establishments such as Studio 54 and Xenon. There she met
and began documenting the life of prominent swinger couple known as
Garth and Lisa. One night she witnessed Garth beating Lisa, a night
that would forever change the path of Ferrato’s life and career. For
the next decade, Ferrato traveled across the country and became
immersed, with her camera, in the hidden world of domestic violence,
riding in police cars, sleeping in shelters and staying in homes of
victims of violence.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/5292.
Darlene Kaczmarczyk (b. 1950)
Darlene Karczmarczyk is professor emeritus at Kendall College of
Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Her inspiration comes
largely from commercial advertising of the 1950s, styles that still
exist today in modern culture. She focuses on iconic feminine apparel
such as handkerchiefs and aprons, turning them into satirical
representations of the social status of women. As a photographer she
enjoys using alternative photographic methods like pinhole and
photograms to create her work.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/2806.
Claudia S. Liberatore
Paradox has always been of interest for local Grand Rapids
photographer Claudia S. Liberatore. Through her photographs she
combines close and far, warm and cool, inside and outside, people and
place, while playing with what is both familiar and unfamiliar to the
viewer. Early in her career Liberatore focused mainly on black and
white photography, later she began to add color which gave a new
dimension to her work, allowing her to better control the mood of the
image. She experimented with her work through creative techniques in
the dark room, creating double images that bring new meanings to her
photographs.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/4914.
Joyce Tenneson (b. 1945)
Joyce Tenneson earned her master's degree in photography from
George Washington University after starting as a model for Polaroid.
Still today, she primarily shoots with a Polaroid 20x24 camera. Her
work has been published in books and major magazines and exhibited in
museums and galleries worldwide, making her one of the most
influential women photographers.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/5589.
Sarah Wong (b. 1962)
From 2003 to 2018, Sarah Wong followed and photographed the lives
of cross-gendered children. She was invited into their homes, schools,
and daily life activities, proving they are regular children that are
living the lives they have always wanted. These images were the first
official photos of transgender children from the Netherlands.
Originally published in the Dutch daily newspaper, “De Volkskrant (The
People’s Paper),” Wong created the series of photographs, which later
became a published book titled, “Inside Out: Portraits of Cross Gender
Children,” to bring awareness and inform people about this vulnerable
population.
To learn more visit https://artgallery.gvsu.edu/Detail/entities/612.