They’ve inspired generations, broken down barriers and created images that stick with you. So take a moment to explore their work, get inspired and join us in celebrating the creativity and vision of female photographers \u2013 past, present and future.<\/p>\n
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The early innovators<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Anna Atkins \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Anna Atkins, 1799-1871 Julia Margaret Cameron, 1815-1879 Bertha Beckmann, 1815\u20131901 \n (Image credit: Mary Carnell \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Mary Carnell, 1861-1925 Signe Brander, 1869-1942 Modern pioneers<\/p>\n \n (Image credit: Dorothea Lange \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Dorothea Lange, 1895-1965 Tina Modotti, 1896-1942 \n (Image credit: Berenice Abbott \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Berenice Abbott, 1898-1991 Margaret Bourke-White, 1904-1971 What to read next<\/p>\n Dorothy Norman, 1905-1997 Gerda Taro, 1910-1937 \n (Image credit: Helen Levitt \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Helen Levitt, 1913-2009 Tsuneko Sasamoto, 1914-present Marion Carter, 1920-2002 \n (Image credit: Diane Arbus \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Diane Arbus, 1923-1971 Vivian Maier, 1926-2009 Present: Contemporary Icons<\/p>\n Sara Facio, 1932-present \n (Image credit: Annie Leibovitz \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Annie Leibovitz<\/a>, 1949-present Nan Goldin, 1953-present Cindy Sherman, 1954-present Shirin Neshat, 1957-present \n (Image credit: Francesca Woodman \u2013 Public Domain)<\/p>\n Francesca Woodman, 1958-1981 Deana Lawson, 1979-present Petra Collins, 1992-present You might like…<\/p>\n Browse the best mirrorless cameras<\/a> and the best DSLRs<\/a>. Want to shoot film? Here are the best film cameras<\/a> and the best 35mm film, roll film, and sheet film. <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Botanical](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Q5GNGoRcaMFphu9KtD9Tp8.jpg\")
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A friend of Henry Fox Talbot, Atkins was an English botanist and photographer. She published Photographs Of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, the first book with photographic illustrations, and some sources claim that she was the first woman to create a photograph.<\/p>\n
With a position in Victorian England\u2019s high society, she captured many legendary figures in her short career \u2013 which started at the age of 48. She often posed her various sitters as characters from biblical or historical stories, copyrighting all her photos.<\/p>\n
Beckmann was possibly the first professional female photographer in the world, With her husband she opened a studio in Leipzig, Germany, in 1843 and ran the business herself after his death in 1847.<\/p>\n
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The American photographer and clubwoman, based in Pennsylvania, was the founder and first president of the Women\u2019s Federation of the Photographers\u2019 Association of America.<\/p>\n
Brander documented the city of Helsinki, Finland, and the everyday lives of its inhabitants in the early 20th century. She created 907 photos of the changing cityscape.<\/p>\n
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Co-founder of Aperture Magazine, Lange is responsible for one of the most famous images in photographic history \u2013 Migrant Mother Florence Owens Thompson during the Great Depression.<\/p>\n
Italian photographer Modotti was a revolutionary activist for the Communist Party, as well as a model and actress. Much of her work involved highlighting Mexican culture, which she began shooting in 1922.<\/p>\n
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Abbott started as a darkroom assistant for Man Ray in Paris, but quickly established herself as a visual artist in her own right. She is best known for portraits of between-the-wars cultural figures, urban design of the 1930s and scientific interpretation shots.<\/p>\n
Remembered for iconic images of World War II and Gandhi at his spinning wheel. In 1941, she became the United States’ first female war correspondent.<\/p>\n
Norman was a writer, photographer and social activist who depicted the early 20th century through sensitive portraits. She donated many photos by herself and husband Alfred Stieglitz to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, establishing the Alfred Stieglitz Center.<\/p>\n
Regarded as the first female photojournalist to have died while covering the frontline of a conflict, during the Spanish Civil War. Taro was the companion and partner of Robert Capa, who was born Endre Friedmann. \u2013 “Robert Capa” was actually a pseudonym shared by the couple, and much of the Capa canon<\/a> was shot by Taro.<\/p>\n
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Levitt was a pioneer in street photography and captured subjects in New York City. She has been called \u201cthe most celebrated and least-known photographer of her time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sasamoto was Japan\u2019s first female photojournalist, joining the Japanese Photographic Society in 1940. Margaret Bourke-White was a major influence on her decision to become a photographer.<\/p>\n
Carpenter started working for the Washington Times-Herald at the age of 24. In 1945 she became the first woman national press photographer to cover Washington, DC, and the White House, and to travel with a US president.<\/p>\n
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New York-based Arbus documented minority groups who were subject to prejudice. Her black-and-white portraits famously worked to normalize her marginalised subjects.<\/p>\n
Maier generated an astounding body of work but remained in obscurity until her images were distributed online after her death. Her photography encapsulated life in American cities, with a focus on the less fortunate members of society.<\/p>\n
Facio co-founded La Azotea, the first publishing house in Latin America dedicated to photography. She also established the Fotogaler\u00eda of the Teatro Municipal General San Mart\u00edn, one of the most prominent exhibition spaces in Argentina.<\/p>\n
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One of the most famous female photographers alive, Leibovitz is best known for her engaging and intimate portraits \u2013 particularly of celebrities. In 1991 she became the first woman to hold an exhibition at Washington\u2019s National Portrait Gallery.<\/p>\n
Goldin\u2019s work features and explores LGBT bodies, moments of intimacy, the HIV crisis and the opioid epidemic. Her intimate images document her own life and those who are close to her.<\/p>\n
Sherman is one of the most influential people in contemporary art. She has worked as her own model for more than 30 years, capturing herself in a range of personas and assuming multiple roles: photographer, model, makeup artist, hairdresser and stylist.<\/p>\n
Iranian-born Neshat has a collection of images with a strong commentary on cultural and gender inequality in her native country. The challenges of being a Muslim woman is a great motivation behind her images.<\/p>\n
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Best known for her creative mono self-portraits, she also shot women who were blurred (due to movement and long exposures) and merged with their surroundings.<\/p>\n
As an American artist, educator and photographer based in New York, Lawson\u2019s work primarily focuses on issues of intimacy, family, spirituality, sexuality and Black aesthetics.<\/p>\n
Collins is an artist, model, photographer and one of the leading voices of the New-Wave Feminism movement. She has landed major campaigns at Adidas, Gucci and Nordstrom, and retains complete creative control over them.<\/p>\n