By Maria Vesselko Illustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta International Women’s Day comes this year with the mobilisation of all forces to tackle inequality, which is not possible to hide any more amid the pandemic and the growing economic crisis. The events of the last year will take an important place in the history of…
By Payten Humphreys Every year on 8 March, celebrations and protests across the globe signal the historical observance of International Women’s Day (IWD). Recognised in over 100 countries, this day honours the progress that women have courageously fought for through centuries of patriarchal paradigms, while simultaneously shedding light on the disparities women still face today….
By Kirsten Magas Illustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta Without the art of protest, including marches, strikes and walkouts, women would not be the powerful members of society they are today. Despite making up over half the population, women have been fighting tooth and nail to earn the same rights granted to their male counterparts…
By Jessica Couloute Illustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta | Photo by Ewa Drewa The first known photograph was taken in France between 1826 and 1827 by Nicéphore Niépce. According to the University of Texas, developing this photo took eight hours under sunlight and in asphalt, resulting in the fuzzy image of the “View from…
By Mary Ellen Dowd Illustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta | | Photo by Denise Bergt Why have there been no great women artists? This is a question posed by Linda Nochlin in reference to the lack of female greats in art history. In her article published in The Feminism and Culture Reader, she questions…
femLENS is happy to announce its new partnership with the Cameroon Association of Women in Media AFMEC. AFMEC is a professional network of women in Cameroon who work and contribute to all areas of media including journalism, production, editing and directing. This organisation works to advocate for women in media while leveraging media to fight…
Documentary Photography and Storytelling Course The Documentary Photography and Storytelling series of online workshops gives you the opportunity to immerse yourself in the world of documentary photography and visual storytelling. The course is useful both for those who already own a camera as well as for beginners who have never held a camera in their…
By Mary Ellen DowdIllustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta In a 2018 series “Unlearning Decisive Moments of Photography”, Ariella Azoulay points out some problems with widely held knowledge about the history and usage of photography. Challenging us to rethink our commonly held beliefs about photography, Azoulay connects the birth of photography with the creation of…
Text by Mary Ellen Dowd Illustration by Magdalena Xochitl Burtnik Urueta | Photo by Agata Reid When referencing Greco-Roman storytelling, most minds immediately produce the names of famous oral storytellers, like Homer or Aesop. Less often would one mention Sappho, a female poet who lived in Greece during 600 B.C.E. Although Sappho was arguably the…
by Emily Chai and Jekaterina Saveljeva “Women’s rights are human rights.” We see these words on banners at protests and demonstrations, on signs at Women’s Marches, on T-shirts and stickers. It’s common sense – women are humans, and therefore their rights are human rights. But when we say that women’s rights are human rights, what…