Revisiting three canonical 1970s photobooks that redefined feminism
through photography
As feminism gained momentum in 1970s America, three
photographers--Abigail Heyman, Eve Arnold and Susan Meiselas--published
massively influential photobooks informed by the movement.
The first, Heyman's Growing Up Female (1974), is a kind of feminist
diary: the photographer casts a lucid eye at her own life and questions
the imprisonment of women in stereotype roles. The second, Eve Arnold's
The Unretouched Woman (1976), shows unknown women and celebrities in
spontaneous everyday moments. The photos were deliberately not retouched
or staged and offer a nuanced vision of women far from the glamor of
glossy magazines. The third, Susan Meiselas' Carnival Strippers (also
1976), is the fruit of three years of investigation into fairground
striptease sideshows in the Northeastern United States.
Unretouched Women reveals the innovations these three photographers
launched in the book medium.