American Women Photographers

American women have made significant contributions to the field of photography for well over a century. This bibliography compiles more than 1,070 sources for over 600 photographers from the 1880s to the present. As women's role in society changed, so did their role as photographers. In the early years, women often served as photographic assistants in their husbands' studios. The photography equipment, initially heavy and difficult to transport, was improved in the 1880s by George Eastman's innovations. With the lighter camera equipment, photography became accessible to everyone. Women photographers became journalists and portraitists who documented vanishing cultures and ways of life. Many of these important female photographers recorded life in the growing Northwest and the streets of New York City, became pioneers of historic photography as they captured the plight of Americans fleeing the Dust Bowl and the horrors of the concentration camps, and were members of the Photo-Secessionist Movement to promote photography as a true art form. This source serves as a checklist for not only the famous but also the less familiar women photographers who deserve attention.