The document discusses the perceived "aura of masculinity" surrounding photography, particularly street photography. It notes that while women make up around 40% of photographers, they are underrepresented and their work less recognized. The article explores possible reasons for this, including sociological factors like the gender pay gap, as well as suggestions that street photography appeals more to masculine tendencies due to its potential for conflict. The author interviews a female street photographer who says the gender bias is more apparent in the business side of photography. Overall, the document examines why photography seems male-dominated but concludes it should not be considered a "guy thing" as women face challenges in gaining visibility and recognition.

1. 52 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 PHOTOLIFE.COM
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T
here are, of course, no
definite answers to these
questions. Despite this, I
set out to investigate. The irony
of me being a male and writing
this article is, of course, not lost
on me, but I wanted to know
if I am part of the problem. In
the course of my investigation, I
dug through some statistics, read
Susan Sontag’s On Photography,
and interviewed female street
photographer and good friend
Sally Davies.
Before talking with Davies,
I ­wanted to try to validate
(or ­invalidate) my theory. Is
­photography a man’s game?
We seem to hear this claim
often enough, especially about
the street genre. There are no
­reliable statistics available for
street ­photography specifically,
but I ­figured the numbers on
­photography as a whole would
be a useful launching point. One
­excellent source for such data
is the Statistics Canada National
For a long time, I have been intrigued by the “aura of
­masculinity” that surrounds ­photography, and street ­photography
more ­specifically.Why does photography appear to be a
­male-­dominated sport? Are women just not interested, or are
there forces at work to keep them out? Is there something
­inherently masculine about street photography or even
­photography in general?
BY MICHAEL ERNEST SWEET
Household Survey. Surprisingly,
the 2011 report tells us that, in
fact, women are more active as
photographers than one might
imagine at first blush: 38% of
all photographers in Canada are
women. In the U.S., according
to the National Endowment for
the Arts report Artists and Arts
­Workers in the United States, that
number rises slightly to 44.8%.
In both countries there are
­indications that this number is
increasing. Yet, where are these
women, and why don’t we see
them more prominently?
CAMERAS = GUNS?
It is quite ironic that one of the
most well-known books ever
­written on photography should
come to us from a woman—­
Susan Sontag. Her profound book,
On Photography, is a masterful
WHERE
ARE
ALL THE
WOMEN?
IS PHOTOGRAPHY
A “GUY THING”?
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2. 53DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 PHOTOLIFE.COM
­collection of gems that offer
insight into the ­psychological
and ­sociological aspects of
­photography. Sontag likens the
camera to predatory weapons—
namely guns and cars, noting that
cars kill more people than guns,
except in wartime. At least that was
the case when Sontag wrote in the
early 1970s. Yes, Sontag ­admits,
the camera does not kill and so
“the ominous metaphor seems to
be all bluff—like a man’s fantasy
of ­having a gun, knife, or tool
between his legs.” Yet she insists
there is still something ­predatory
in the act of taking a picture. “To
­photograph people is to violate
them, by seeing them as they
never see themselves, by ­having
­knowledge of them they can never
have; it turns people into objects
that can be ­symbolically possessed.
Just as the camera is a ­sublimation
of the gun, to ­photograph ­someone
is a ­sublimated ­murder—a soft
murder, ­appropriate to a sad,
­frightened time.”
If men are, in fact, dominating
the genre of street photography,
are they doing so not to make
art but to cope with the anxiety
and ­hostility of contemporary
times? Are men acting out their
aggression with the camera rather
than a gun? Sontag seems to think
so, offering up the warning that
violence may decrease as a result,
but that the world will become
image-choked. Indeed the latter
part seems to have come to pass.
Sontag’s thoughts are her own—
they’re not science or even all
that carefully observed ­realities.
Nevertheless, I do wonder if
men are getting something
unique from the act of street
­photography that women are not.
Are male street photographers
waving their cameras around in
an attempt to satisfy something
deeper and more psychological
than the simple urge to create?
If they are, this might explain
why the field is so populated
with men and hence the “aura
of ­masculinity.” Perhaps men are
engaged in a kind of ­real-life
­video game when they are
behind the lens, but this doesn’t
explain why ­women are not
more prominent and ­visible.
THE GENDER BIAS
I asked street photographer
Sally Davies, originally from
­Winnipeg and now based in New
York City, if she feels an “aura
of ­masculinity” around street
­photography. She said no, not
Yet she insists
there is still
something
­predatory
in the act
of ­taking a
­picture.
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3. 54 DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 PHOTOLIFE.COM
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­really, not when she’s out ­shooting
at least, but she does lament
the gender bias that creeps into
the back end—into the ­business
aspect. “For me,” said Davies, “the
gender bias appears later, when
I’m trying to get a show, when I’m
pricing my work, when I’m being
interviewed, when I’m looking at
work that is up for auction; there
is a gender bias in the money
end of it all.” She notes that men’s
work fetches higher prices in the
art market and, therefore, more
men get shown. Yet, she also
states, “Street photography is not
a hugely popular item on the
­collector’s radar these days, even
the work by men. Lately, I’m far
more concerned with this than
with gender issues.”
It seems that women in
­photography are dealing with
many of the same issues that
women in the wider world are
still grappling with—pay ­equity
and competition for visibility
and recognition in a still largely
male-dominated world. In fact,
wage disparity between men and
women in the photography sector
is quite discouraging. ­According
to the Canadian Censuses of 1996
and 2001, female ­photographers
earned just over half (54% and
51%, respectively) of what their
male counterparts did—the
­greatest gender pay disparity of all
arts occupations. More recently,
the 2011 National Household
­Survey revealed that among
the population with wages and
salaries for photography, women
earned only 52% of what male
photographers did. In terms of
­visibility, it’s the same story—
women are largely absent from
the main stage at photography
conventions and other high-­
profile opportunities like brand
­ambassador programs.
Women are active in ­photography,
though. The numbers alone
bear this out. Women are not
struggling to get their hands on
a camera; they’re struggling for
­visibility and recognition. Some
have overcome this struggle—
Annie Leibovitz, Cindy Sherman,
Nan Goldin, ­Sally Mann, as well
as those who’ve passed like
Mary Ellen Mark, Diane Arbus,
Helen Levitt, Lisette Model and
Francesca Woodman, to name
but a few. Yet when it comes
to street ­photography, the story
takes a turn. Women are here
too, ­undeniably, but they are
awash in a sea of men—at least
when it comes to ­public ­visibility.
­StreetHunters.net published a
list of the 10 most ­influential
­photographers. All of them
are men, and some are rather
­humdrum performers, leading
me to think they are simply
“some man’s friends.” Although
Mary ­Ellen Mark and Vivian
Maier worked relentlessly in the
streets and did, in fact, become
well known, Maier’s reputation
emerged after her death and at
the hands of a man, who now
stamps his name on all her work.
OTHER POSSIBLE FACTORS
Later in my conversation with
­Davies, she mentioned that
other elements within street
­photography could be limiting
interest on the part of women,
for example, the physical ­nature
of being out on the streets,
­especially after dark or in less
safe ­neighbourhoods. Women,
on average, are not as physically
intimidating as men, she claims.
This raised important questions
that warrant further investigation.
Indeed, does being a man better
position one to engage in the
inevitable climate of conflict that
seems to go along with street
photography? I’m not convinced,
but it is possible. Are women
more conflict-averse? Is street
photography even inherently
­conflict-driven?
Davies spoke about street
­photography taking on a much
broader sweep of aesthetics in
­recent years and referred to herself
as a good example of this trend.
It seems that
women in
­photography
are dealing
with many
of the same
­issues that
women in
the wider
world are still
­grappling
with—pay
­equity and
­competition
for ­visibility
and
­recognition
in a still
­largely male-­
dominated
world.
©SALLYDAVIES
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4. 55DECEMBER/JANUARY 2017 PHOTOLIFE.COM
Gone are the days, says ­Davies,
when every street ­photographer
emulated the “get in and get
out” tactics of Bruce Gilden. She
­confesses that she does see that
approach as both ­aggressive and
as a “weird male thing.” ­Davies
believes that this particular
style has kind of “hijacked” the
street ­photography ­definition,
but that it doesn’t ­accurately
reflect the ­current ­reality. “Can
we all agree that Vivian Maier
was a street ­photographer?” asks
­Davies. If so, Davies ­believes that
­Maier’s ­example of ­embodying
a certain peacefulness is a ­better
­representation of what most
­present-day street photographers
are all about.
MAKING ROOM
Perhaps I am part of the ­problem
then. I’ve written those lists
on the “most important street
photographers” and indeed
stuck with what I knew—
mostly men. In this way, we
men are ­blocking the path for
­women to be ­recognized in
street ­photography. I suspect
­similar things are going on in
the wider world of ­photography
also. So, is ­photography a “guy
thing”? No, not really. Although
men may indeed be getting
­something different out of it
than women. Fine. But men
also seem to be dominating
the space, despite the number
of ­photographers being nearly
equally divided between the
sexes. Men are ­over-represented
and ­over-recognized, and that’s
the “aura of masculinity” that I’ve
been perceiving.
Although this ­issue is not
unique to ­photography and
­photographers, it is especially
pronounced in this industry. We
men need to work ­harder to
­occupy our share of the space
and not more. We need to
­become aware of our ­dominance
in the field and work in ­whatever
ways we can to create space
for gender ­equality. The next
time we make a list of the most
important ­photographers, we
need to work harder to ­discover
the women who’ve earned their
spot on the list. Simply writing
and ­rewriting the same old list
of men is easy, sure, but it’s
also one of those forces that
keep others out. And it’s earning
photography, ­especially street
photography, a bad rap as a
“guy thing.”
©SALLYDAVIES
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