10 FEMALE PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO REVOLUTIONIZED THE INDUSTRY

When looking at a photo, we tend to focus on the subject in front of the camera and sometimes forget about the person behind it. Knowing the gender of the photographer can make a considerable difference in how we view a photo. Although there still seems to be more male than female professional photographers in the world, women have made, and continue to make, major contributions to the art. Out of the hundreds of amazing female photographers around, here are 10 who revolutionized the industry:

1. Annie Leibovitz: Annie Leibovitz is a renowned photographer who got her big break as the chief photographer of Rolling Stone magazine. There, Leibovitz helped define the look of the magazine with her intimate and iconic photographs of celebrities, including Yoko Ono and John Lennon on the day of his death, Demi Moore pregnant and nude, and Whoopi Goldberg in a bathtub full of milk.
2. Annie Griffiths Belt: Annie Griffiths Belt is a well-known landscape photographer, who got her big break as one of the first female photographers to work for National Geographic magazine, where she traveled the world shooting exotic places and people. Her inspiring collection of photographs has been featured in Life magazine, Geo, Stern magazine, Smithsonian magazine and dozens of other publications.
3. Dorthea Lange: Dorthea Lange was an influential American documentary photographer, who's best known for chronicling the Great Depression and photographing migratory farm workers, as well as the unemployed and homeless. During the 1930s, Lange worked for the federal Resettlement Administration (RA) that was later called the Farm Security Administration (FSA). Her most famous piece of work, "Migrant Mother," features Florence Owens Thompson and her two children.
4. Lauren Greenfield: Lauren Greenfield is one of today's most important and controversial photographers. Her work focuses on the major issues affecting young women today, including body image, eating disorders, wealth, beauty, media and consumerism. Greenfield's photography is shocking and unglamorous, but she manages to capture a great deal of truth and emotion with each shot. Greenfield is commended for her curiosity and bravery that has brought light to the ugly pressures affecting today's youth.
5. Martine Barrat: Martine Barrat influenced the industry by photographing people who are often forgotten in society. Barrat was known for taking photos of African Americans living in Harlem and South Bronx, New York, and becoming a member of their community. She lived by and developed strong relationships with her subjects. This unique approach to photography and professional research has made her quite the innovator.
6. Mary Ellen Mark: Mary Ellen Mark has revolutionized the photography industry with her stark black and white portraits that typically capture the weak, homeless and unusual. In order to photograph her subjects in such vulnerable and intimate moments, Mark will sometimes live with them to gain a greater perspective of their daily lives and challenges. One of her most famous photos features a homeless family crammed inside a dilapidated car. Her gritty, raw pictures combined with her compassionate nature toward her subjects truly resonate with fans and makes her a one-of-a-kind photographer.
7. Sally Mann: Sally Mann has impacted the photography industry with her powerful black and white photographs of children and landscapes of the Deep South. The Lexington, Virginia, native got her start photographing her three children and husband, and eventually added landscapes of Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia and Georgia to the mix. Mann has been known to use damaged cameras and scratched lenses to capture a dark, ghostly look. Her organic and intimate depictions of children and nature set her apart from the rest.
8. Diane Arbus: Diane Arbus was a revolutionary photographer who pushed the envelope by photographing social outcasts and those who were thought to be deviant, such as giants, dwarfs, transvestites, circus performers and nudists. Arbus' signature black and white photos of people on the fringes of society became very popular and she became the first American photographer to have an exhibition at the Venice Biennale.
9. Julia Margaret Cameron: Julia Margaret Cameron was a British photographer during the 1800s, who became known for her celebrity portraits and Arthurian-themed photos. She was one of the first photographers to do closely cropped portraits. Cameron may not have been appreciated during her time, but she was later revered as a major influence to modern photography.
10. Jill Greenberg: Jill Greenberg is an innovative photographer known for her stunning portraits and fine art work. The self-described "manipulator" has created a personal style of staging and physically or digitally manipulating her images in a way that almost always causes controversy. Greenberg's most famous work includes her End Times portrait series that featured controversial images of crying and distressed toddlers, as well as her various celebrity and CEO portraits.

Taken From Online Degree