Lee McIntyre

In books about the history of American photography, the work of women to the field too often winds up being marginalized or overlooked.  In fact, being called a "woman photographer" can often been seen as an implied criticism on the skill-level and/or subject matter of the photos made by a women. All photographers fight to get their photos appreciated as an art form, rather than something produced merely by a machine. However, the women I spotlight have often also had to struggle to be taken seriously as photographers who are skilled at what they do. Even during their life times, they often face skepticism and sometimes downright hostility from their male colleagues, both photographers as well as those outside their field. 

In talks on this topic, I explore the artistic achievements and influential legacies of these brilliant and sometimes overlooked masters of their craft, profiling works by Berenice Abbot, Diane Arbus, Imogen Cunningham, Gertrude Käsebier, Dorothea Lange, Annie Leibovitz, Joanne Leonard, Cindy Sherman, Marion Post Wolcott, and others. 

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Interesting in hiring me to speak on this topic?  Contact me for pricing and availability.

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2013-2014 Public lecture series at the Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen.

Part 1: The Trail Blazers: Pioneering a Career as a Female Photographer 
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen
10 December 2013 at 6:15pm

At the beginning of the 20th century, four American female photographers – Gertrude Käsebier, Imogen Cunningham, Berenice Abbott and Margaret Bourke-White – set themselves apart in a field that had been previously dominated by men. These women pioneered exciting new directions for photography, while overcoming both technical photographic challenges as well as societal restrictions in an age when few women worked outside the home. 

Online Reference links for viewing representative works by these photographers:

• Gertrude Käsebier: The U.S. Library of Congress has copies of much of her work. Note that the 'copy negative' prints of the black and white photos were not used by Käsebier as final exhibition prints, and should be viewed in that light. Käsebier would typically turn her photos into Pictoralist works involving special techniques for printing, etc. to achieve her artistic goals. The Library of Congress does have selected examples of her final works in addition to the copy negative prints. 
  Recommended biographies: 
  • Gertrude Käsebier: The Photographer and her Photographs (B. Michaels)
  • Gertrude Käsebier: The Complexity of Light and Shade (S. Petersen, J. Tomlinson)
• Berenice Abbott: Changing New York examples at the Lee Gallery. The do not have examples of her Scientific photos, however. MIT owns a collection, but offers only a few to be viewed online.
• Margaret Bourke-White: some early works posted at the Cornell University Archive
• Imogen Cunningham: Official Site for Imogen Cunningham Trust

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Part 2: The Photojournalists: Documenting the World in Difficult Times
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen 
15 April 2014 at 7:15 pm

During the 1930s and 1940s, a talented group of American female photographers actively chronicled and published scenes from daily life in both the U.S. and Europe. Facing obstacles that were often technically as well as emotionally challenging, these women captured images that highlight the dignity and the despair of people struggling against poverty and prejudice in cities and on farms, during both peacetime and at war. Dr. Lee McIntyre will present and explore the artistic achievements and influential legacies of women such as Berenice Abbott, Margaret Bourke-White, Dorothea Lange and Marion Post (Wolcott).

• Margaret Bourke-White (Fortune magazine, LIFE magazine and later)
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  
• Dorothea Lange
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
• Berenice Abbott
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  
• Marion Post (Wolcott)
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  

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Part 3: The Innovators: Exploring New Approaches to Photography
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen 
10 July 2014 at 7:15 pm

In the second half of the 20th Century, American women photographers started to push in new directions, challenging such traditional notions as "appropriate" portrait subjects and photographic genres themselves. In this lecture, Dr. Lee McIntyre will explore work by four women who revolutionized the field: Diane Arbus and her thought-provoking portraits of "deviant and marginal people"; Joanne Leonard and her compelling "intimate documentary" photos from the genre that she invented; Annie Leibovitz and her controversial yet intriguing portraits and ad campaigns; Cindy Sherman and her stylized, staged self-portraits, which command some of the highest prices ever paid for a photograph.

• Diane Arbus
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  
• Annie Leibovitz
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  
• Cindy Sherman
  Recommended biographies: coming soon
  
• Joanne Leonard
  Recommended biographies: coming soon