Digital Photographer - UK (2020-05)

I

tissodifficulttotalkaboutyourself.I

sometimeswishsomebodyelsewoulddo

itforme,butapparentlyweareourown

bestadvocates,asthesayinggoes.Iwasa

graphicdesignerandstartedphotography 15

yearsago,whenIwas 50 yearsold–turning

professionalinthepasttwotothreeyears.I’ve

onlyrecentlydevelopedastylethatsuitsmy

approachtoimages,takingmytimeandtrying

toworkoneverysingleonesoIfeltthatittold

astory.

Beingaloner–moreofan‘antisocial’

photographer–Ipersonallyhaverarelybeen

confronteddirectlywiththeproblemofgender

inequalityintheindustry.TheonlytimeI’ve

workedwithmalephotographershasbeenin

workshopsthatI’veattendedanditusually

turnedoutfine,withalotofrespecttothe

(few)attendingwomen.Wasitbecausewe

wereoutnumbered?

Ofcourse,womenarerarely

treatedequallyincertaindomains.

Aswetrytocommunicateour

journalisticexperiencesandtake

partindifficultshootingsituations,

weoftenneedmoretimetobe

considered‘real’professionalson

certainsubjects.

Idounfortunatelyalsoseeand

feelthe‘malebias’problemin

groupexhibitions.Ifirstrealised

itattheArlesphotography

festivals,whichIattendalmost

everyyear.Thelimitednumberof

womenphotographersthereis

quitestriking,asistheplaceand

thewaythatthosefew[female

attendees]arepresented.This

ofcourseisentirelymypersonal,

humblefeeling.

Strongfemalephotographers

havetofighttheirwayinto

difficultsituations,andas I

mentionedpreviously,it is harder

forustobenoticed,so we have

toproveourselvesbytaking

morerisksthansomemen do.

Idon’thavetheright

words,butthereisafeeling of

unjustnessinsomesituations

• thosefewwomenwho do
  managetobreakthrough,who
  achievetheirgoalsbyovercoming
  differentobstacles,they really do
  standout.
  Formepersonally,the term
  ‘strong’describesawoman
  photographerwhoisloyal to and
  staysloyaltoherbeliefs and her
  choicesofsubjects,nomatterwhat.

PROBIO

Yonalovestophotograph

Europe’scaféculture,and

heraimistotellthestories

ofthepeopleinthose

cafésthroughthelens

ofherLeica.Yonaedits

herimagesusinganiPad,

addingsoft,smokyeffects

foradreamyatmosphere.

yonaelig.com

All images © Yona Eligoulachvili

THE MALE BIAS

Yona Elig explores what makes a ‘strong’ female photographer

PRO COLUMN