209 Women

In the post today I got my copy of 209 Women which was a project from 2018 to coincide with last year’s centenary of some women getting the vote in the UK.

The project was an exhibition of all 209 female UK Members of Parliament taken by 209 female photographers. And this book is the collection of images from that exhibition.

I never made it to the exhibition when it was on display in one of the Parliamentary buildings in London. Even though I work nearby it just wasn’t to be.

It does make me sad that this collection of 209 images will get drowned out by the millions of photos of women in passive, submissive positions.

During the course of this project there have been times when I have thought about the work I have been creating and whether the space I’m taking up could be a space for someone else. As this book shows, there are plenty of women photographers who are just as good and some even better than Rankin, Bill Brandt, Ralph Gibson, David Bailey, Horst, Spencer Tunick, Terence Donovan or Helmut Newton. Maybe it is time for me to take a step back and not try to compete with these women for the stage.

And you can find a list of all 209 photographers here.