Women in Photojournalism

Louise Rosskam was a successful photojournalist from the 1930s through the 1950s. However, her successes were not achieved without much struggle. From the very beginning, Rosskam was targeted. Her family lost money during the Great Depression so now she was a poor, Jewish woman. According to the Library of Congress, Rosskam attended the University of Pennsylvania but “She majored in science, one of the few courses then open to women.” Although she became a microbiologist, she had a hard time finding work. That is when the lure of photography drew her in.

Rosskam became a rebel supporting the leftist movement in which she was exposed to photography that depicted social challenges. This is how she met her husband, Edwin, and they began to work together as a dynamic duo. Unfortunately, while working for the Philadelphia Record, the company wouldn’t pay Rosskam for her work. Instead, “The newspaper would hire only Edwin so he listed Louise's wages as ‘gas and oil’ in his expense account.” Another instance of discrimination was when Louise and Edwin both published a photography book and only Edwin’s name appeared on it. Marion Post Wilcott faced a similar struggle, “She completed and was paid for a Fortune assignment, but those photographs were never published.” Rosskam specialized in photography of children but worked heavily with social issues. For example, race and class issues were photographed in Washington D.C. while typical farming work was photographed in Puerto Rico along with the political change there. Rosskam is an inspiration to women because the discrimination did not discourage her. She eventually made it into the Library of Congress as a successful woman.

There is no doubt that women were, and arguably still are, a minority group that faces discrimination in the workplace. The general trends that encourage discrimination against women are pregnancy, physical appearance, physical ability, and wages. Women are fearful to admit pregnancy due to a lack of hours employers may give them. My cousin was pregnant when she went to a job interview but refused to tell the company in fear of not being hired because she could only work a few months before pregnancy leave. Some corporations will hire a woman solely because she is attractive and that may lure in customers. Oppositely, some companies may avoid hiring attractive women in fear of sexual harassment claims. Biologically, there is a difference in a man and woman’s body type. However, physical strength cannot be the sole reason to discriminate. In fact, there should be adopted programs that help a woman adapt to strenuous work. Finally, women are doing the same type of work for the same amount of time but are getting less pay. This is true today! According to a 2008 study by the U.S. Department of Labor, “women earn on average 80 percent of what men earn.” This needs to change.

Firefighting is a specific career that women have long been discriminated at. Throughout history, women could be firefighters. However, they often worked as volunteers, in rural areas, or for private companies. What message is the government sending by not supporting women through public firefighting services? Even when more women became a part of this field, they were clerks and did not last long because of poor treatment on the job. At a Seattle fire department, women were dismissed by their height before they could even test for the job. Height was never a requirement for the job. In 1976, Lori Lakshas won $40,000 in a case against the employer for physical and medical exam discrimination. Although women are still not equally balanced in firefighting, there a programs that train women specifically. Gender equality is important regardless of the occupation. However, Joe Elbert explains why gender is specific to photojournalism, "'We're starting to get more – and different – interpretations of subject matter as more women come into the profession. There is a different approach because of gender.'" Progress is better than nothing. This contradicts Paul Melcher’s idea that gender cannot be seen through a photograph and therefore is not important. Gender is not physically seen because the photographer is not in the picture. But, the type of subject that is photographed does give away the gender of the photographer and this is an important factor to incorporate into photojournalism.

Louise Rosskam


Photo By: Charles Rotkin
Image Source: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/coll/womphotoj/rosskamessay.html
Year Created: late 1945 or early 1946

Principle 1: The quality of light in this photo is rather poor. It seems like the sun was too bright. Therefore, the subjects' eyes are squinted while shadows are very prominent. Due to the strong lighting, the photo has an overall poor quality.

Principle 2: The photographer did a good job of keeping this image simple. It is clear the focus is on the people and there is nothing distracting in the background. Because the ocean and sky are so vast, it is actually a nice background. Even the foreground, the barrier, is a simple and uniform design.

Principle 3: The use of lines in this image is striking. The stone barrier the subjects are sitting on was the first thing my eye was drawn to. This line correlates with the line of the horizon in the background. At the same time, there are lines perpendicular on the stone barrier. This gives the photo an artistic flare of contrast.

I chose this image because the use of lines really struck me. I felt like I was looking at three different photos. Also, research explained how close Louise and Edwin were. The emotion of both of them here, although bland, is completely content and I think that explains their relationship. I was also drawn to the camera in the man's hand. It is so big!

Women Discrimination in the Workplace


Photo By: Comstock Images/Getty Images
Image Source: http://woman.thenest.com/workplace-programs-reduce-racism-discrimination-21203.html
Year Created: unkown

Principle 1: The background detracts from the composition. The man and women would have been enough to get the point across. The gender symbols in the background are distracting because they are digitally created. Also, it took me a minute to even figure out what they were. That was a minute I was not paying attention to the message of the image.

Principle 2: The image, without context, is abstract. If I didn't specifically search for workplace discrimination, I would not have automatically known what the message was intended to be. Although the subject on the right looks like a man via his clothing, it is still abstract because the head is missing. I think keeping the head in the photo would have only added to the strength of the message.

Principle 3: This image is very in focus. Although it is not a close up, the edges of the man's pants and the heels of the woman's shoes are clear. If this image was not in focus, it would be a confusing image because it would just simply look like a giant and a midget. Also, if the image wasn't in focus, the gender symbols in the background could not have been made out, even though I think they should have been left out all together.

I chose this image because the vast contrast between the subjects immediately struck me. Then I was wondering what happened to the man's head so I furthered examined the image. This photograph really depicts the superiority of men in the workplace compared to women. I wanted to find an image that had both a man and women dressed professionally, with qualifications unknown, showing that is really is gender that is discriminated upon.

Women Firefighter


Photo By: Peter Blakeman
Image Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2228132/Fire-fighting-fit-Woman-firefighter-33-crowned-world-s-toughest-triumphing-competition-5-000-hopefuls-globe.html
Year Created: 2012

Principle 1: The main subject here is clearly the firefighter. There is no doubting that. She is a good size in this photo too. She is not too big that her entire body cannot fit and at the same time she is big enough to know that she is, indeed, the main subject.

Principle 2: The subject's expression adds quality to this photo. She looks determined and that's how firefighters should be: determined to save lives. Also her posture is interesting. It is obvious she is in a running motion, determined to get to the fire. Regardless of the heavy equipment she has to carry, the subject's overall expression is devotion and passion.

Principle 3: This image creates a sense of awe. Not only is a woman out there with all the men, she is performing her job in the same sense. This image is so striking because it represents a minority: women firefighters. Also, the equipment including the hose and all the valves explain the complexity of firefighting and gives a sense of what the career entails.

I chose this image because I really like how the firefighter was in motion, on the job. This was not staged but rather in action. I appreciate that because photojournalism is all about people in action. I also like that this image dismisses the stereotype that firefighters are only big, strong men.