Founded in 2015 as a volunteer-driven non-profit association, femLENS works as a capacity builder delivering free workshops to teach women and girls from economically and culturally diverse backgrounds documentary photography techniques to tell stories visually by using easily available tools such as mobile phone cameras.
As a wide-angle lens, femLENS is designed to allow women’s voices and thoughts to be more included in the cultural and media representation of sexes.
femLENS is an open laboratory of shared thought, knowledge, tools and ideas, an international community designed to give space and voice to women.
femLENS is the darkroom where women can develop their own vision and have a chance to become change agents themselves.
Using a variety of innovative, person-centred methodologies, each of our workshops aims to help communities find their voice, to share the lived experience of women from different social backgrounds and walks of life.
Today’s cultural and media representation of women is not inclusive and diverse. Men and women are often portrayed in stereotypical ways, and traditional roles in society are emphasised. This misrepresentation and the message behind needs to change, so that a political, economic, and social equality of the sexes is possible.
During our workshops women and girls not only use reflective photography to create a visual project, but also work on the narrative side of each story.
Making our workshops participant-driven and giving the tools to express themselves helps to enhance participant empowerment and encourages creativity by providing the opportunity to introduce topics and ideas that are meaningful to participants.
Read a short history of femLENS to understand our origins or listen to femLENS founder, Jekaterina Saveljeva, speak about our work at TEDxLasnamäe in Tallinn, Estonia in April 2016.
femLENS’ work is guided by the Dóchas’ Code of Conduct on Images and Messages
femLENS Impact Report 2018-2019
femLENS Impact Report 2017-2018