WOMEN PHOTOGRAPHERS IN 1920s-1930s PARIS | PRESS RELEASE

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs is pleased to present an exhibition of specially selected vintage photographs by women photographers working in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.

Following the end of World War I, Paris served as an international magnet for literary and artistic circles. The liberal city provided an atmosphere of unbridled freedom and possibility. Women, even more than men, were suddenly at liberty to flaunt historical conventions and embrace opportunities until then widely unavailable.

Female photographers were hired in advertising, established their own portrait studios, captured the industrial landscape, and documented nocturnal activities and street scenes from all heights. They were Modernists, Surrealists and documentarians. This exhibition presents the work of women who excelled in their fields within the medium and whose contributions paved the way for subsequent generations of artists.

Berenice Abbott, Rogi André, Ilse Bing, Florence Henri, Germaine Krull, Ergy Landau, and Madame D’Ora (Dora Kallmus) were among those expatriate photographers who joined French artists Claude Cahun, Dora Maar, Laure Albin Guillot, and Denise Bellon in Paris. Their achievements were recognized by publishers and art directors of influential magazines of the era such as Vu, L’Illustration, and Art et Médecine who frequently used their work. Their photographs were also shown in the city’s avant garde galleries (Le Sacre du Printemps, La Pléiade, and La Plume D’or) and in historically key exhibitions, including Premier salon indépendant de la photographie (Salon de L’Escalier, Paris, 1928), Film und Foto (Stuttgart, 1929 and traveled), Modern European Photography (Julien Levy Gallery, New York, 1932), International Exhibition of Contemporary Photography (Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, 1936), and the International Surrealist Exhibition (Galérie Beaux Arts, Paris, 1938).

As a whole, women’s advancements and successes in photography over these two decades were arguably more significant than in any other artistic field. It is noteworthy that so many of the leading women photographers of the time moved to Paris to learn, experiment, be inspired, and participate in the city’s intellectual dialogue and creative movements. Over subsequent decades their importance was often underplayed or overlooked compared to their male counterparts but their contributions were undeniably pivotal to the advancement of the medium and today a good number serve as artistic references in terms of vision, subject matter and style.

For additional information or to request images, please contact the gallery at +1 212 517-8700 or by email at info@lparkerstephenson.nyc.

L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, located at 764 Madison Avenue between 65th and 66th streets, is open Tuesday - Friday from 11am-6pm.