“Extraordinary Women With Cameras: 35 Photographers Who Changed How We See The World”
Biblio File column
Darcy Reed, Petaluma-based author and Chico State Theatre Arts grad, wants to introduce kids ages 8-12 to some of the most creative women photographers in world history. Pairing with illustrator Venessa Perez, Reed accomplishes her goal with a quirky and colorful book, “Extraordinary Women With Cameras: 35 Photographers Who Changed How We See The World” ($16.95 in hardcover from rockynook.com; also for Amazon Kindle).
Unexpectedly, there are no photographs in the book; instead, each photographer receives a short biography (one or two paragraphs) along with a whimsical, full-page illustration of the photographer herself, with a key quote if available. The idea is to invite readers to find out more; to that end there’s a QR code and link to a page listing each photographer and an associated website (a Wikipedia page or artist’s site).
The book is not just about exploring, it’s about doing. As Reed says in the introduction: “We’ve included some fun photo ideas for you to try and new photography terms for you to learn. We hope this book inspires you to pick up your own camera and start snapping interesting photos. Who knows? Maybe your work will be featured in a museum or book one day!”
Among the 35 are some familiar names, such as Dorothea Lange (1895-1965) whose “photos of the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression and prisoners in Japanese internment camps during World War II made sure Americans would never forget those tragedies.” Vogue and Vanity Fair photographer Annie Leibovitz is here as is Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971), LIFE magazine’s first woman photographer and the first “woman allowed in combat zones during World War II.”
But the book is also replete with perhaps lesser-known photographers from around the world, including Dulce Pinzón, a contemporary artist that Forbes dubbed “one of the 50 most creative Mexicans in the world”; “her iconic … series featured several immigrant workers in New York City dressed as superheroes. Her goal was to highlight the invisible ‘superheroes’ people encounter in everyday life.”
Reed adds: “Take a photo of someone you think is an everyday superhero and share it with them!” Now, where’s my phone?
Copyright Chico Enterprise-Record; used by permission