Issue 188 of the SNYC Newsletter
Greetings everyone! I’ve been working nearly everyday. This newsletter is a little brief as a result. The weather has been beautiful with the exception of last Friday when we had torrential rains. It was the first time this year that I had to cancel a workshop because of extreme weather.
A very big thank you to all the new and returning customers who’ve taken my workshops and tours. It is so wonderful to meet you and Shoot New York City with you! And a big thank you to all the subscribers both paid and free!
Comments are always welcome as are suggestions. I prefer to have a dialogue about street photography rather a monologue. As always, Happy Shooting!
The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes. Marcel Proust
I write this newsletter to share my thoughts & experiences on street photography. I hope that you find it of use in your journey. If you are able to, you can support me by buying me a coffee. No sweat if you’re unable to contribute. The newsletter is free for all. Thanks to everyone who has bought me a coffee!!! Maybe one day we’ll be able to have a coffee in person. Mucho love.
I am a Photographer
I am forever returning to the conversation about does it really matter that I am a woman photographer? Or as I’d like to think, gender is not really an important aspect of what I produce or even how I do it. I am a photographer.
I think that my photography is different because it’s me and my experience of life and the world that I live in. Because I’ve spent the better part of 50 years trying to express myself through photography and other forms of art.
Perhaps I am naive. But I even get people on social media calling me dude! I am not bothered by that and it’s possible that they don’t bother to look at my profile to see that my name is Leanne. I am happy if people can relate to my photography and even if they “like” it.
So I got lucky when I was able to get the url Shoot New York City dot com. And also that tag on social media. It is a name that very accurately describes what I do. It also doesn’t really suggest a gender.
One reason that there has been an emphasis in all of the arts to identify women is that we were excluded from the mainstream for so long. It would be nice to think that women would gain equal respect, acknowledgment and pay for equal work.
I understand the need to have exhibits and publications that highlight the work of women. But at the end of the day, does being a woman make my work different? Does it mean than women artists will always need to be segregated? I certainly hope not. When you look at their work, is there something different about their work as a result of their gender?
Some male street photographers are very aggressive. I do not approve of any kind of aggression. Period. Even so, they are a minority of male photographers. Only once did I have an aggressive man in one of my workshops. I let him know that it’s unacceptable.
Respect is not gendered. It is not exclusively a female trait. So what is it that makes art any different by a man or woman or nonbinary unless their work is very specifically about gender? And that said, I think that is no longer in the realm of street photography. Rather it would be documentary photography.
So I’m at a loss about why I should call myself a woman photographer. I am a photographer with a handful of adjectives that you can add after that and they may or may not help you better understand me. I suspect that adjectives are often unnecessary when they are used to generalize. They create stereotypes.
So I am asking you for your comments on this topic. What do you think about whether it’s important to identify as a woman photographer either personally or to know when you are viewing the art of a woman?
Does knowing the gender of an artist better inform you about their work? My thoughts are not 100% settled on this matter. Though I do lean towards thinking that it’s not really important. But I won’t rant on any further. I’ll let you join in with your thoughts.
Biweekly Photo Assignment -Weather
Signs of weather. Very easy exercise. But hey, feel free to be creative.
This is a voluntary assignment if you want to take part. You can submit your photos to the Facebook group for Shoot New York City and also on Instagram tag @shootnewyorkcity. If you're not a member of the Facebook group yet, all you have to do is request to join.
Further Viewing
I like Alex’s attitude about photography. He has some good suggestions that are ones that I also suggest.
Upcoming Workshops
Workshops are a maximum of 5 people Workshops are only scheduled on weekend days. If you would like to have a weekday workshop or a workshop in other areas of NYC, let me know with some lead time and I’ll see if others want to also attend it. Otherwise I continue to provide private workshops on weekdays and in other neighborhoods.
For those who haven't done a workshop or photo tour with me in the past I have a number of reviews on my website and also on TripAdvisor! Workshops are both for people who live here and also travelers, as are photo tours.
Photo tours are one-on-one and arranged on an individual basis for both neighborhood and photographic style and can be designed as a workshop as well. They are customized to your interests and level.
I was reading your article and it came to my mind the names of Cindy Sherman, Diane Arbus and Lindsay Addario. Each one different from the other, all women and all with a story to tell about being a photographer.
I think we should talk about it and be aware of our cultural differences and challenges about the importance of gender in photography.
Great article!
I think it doesn’t matter. I’ve appreciated works from both genders and while at first I thought I might have seen a difference in work, I find it was more their particular style more than anything.
Calling yourself anything beyond a photographer is unnecessary in my opinion. The work should be appreciated more than the gender. I do believe that access and treatment should also be the same for all genders.
At the same time, I feel doing some women specific activities is still necessary in order to eventually level out a lopsided playing field. I hope that one day those won’t be necessary either. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part.
Thank you for the great article Leanne!