List of Australian women photographers explained

This is a list of women photographers who were born in Australia or whose works are closely associated with that country.

A

• Bernice Agar (1885–1976), portrait, fashion and society photographer in the late 1910s until the 1930s.
• Narelle Autio (born 1969), photojournalist working first in Europe and the USA before returning to Australia in 1998 as staff photographer for the Sydney Morning Herald^[1]

B

• Sarah Bahbah, photographic artist, with large Instagram following
• Euphemia Eleanor Baker (aka Effie Baker) (1880–1968), photographer of Australian wildflowers and Bahá'í Faith
• Polly Borland (born 1959), now living in England, known both for her portraits of famous Australians and for several series of stylized portraits
• Pat Brassington (born 1942), Tasmanian photographer and digital artist.
• Kate Breakey (born 1957), visual artist creating large-scale, hand-colored photographs.
• Harriett Brims (1864–1939), pioneer commercial photographer in Queensland
• Amelia Bunbury (1863–1958), photographer from Western Australia, works published in the Western Mail
• Jane Burton (born 1966), Melbourne-based photographer.^[2]

C

• Emily Florence Cazneau (1855–1892), mother of Harold, see List of New Zealand women photographers
• Alex Cearns, animal photography
• Sarah Chinnery (1887–1970), photographer and diarist
• Pegg Clarke (c. 1890–1959), fashion, portrait, architectural and society photographer
• Suzanna Clarke (born 1961), see List of New Zealand women photographers
• Beverley Clifford (fl. 1950s), magazine photographer and photojournalist
• Olive Cotton (1911–2003), modernist photographer working in the 1930s and 1940s in Sydney, receiving commissions from the publisher Sidney Ure Smith
• Virginia Coventry (born 1942), photographer of environmental protests
• Brenda L Croft (born 1964), First Nations artist, writer and curator drawing on familial and public archives to explore Indigenous histories and experiences^[3]

D

• Destiny Deacon (1957–2024), Queensland photographer of indigenous culture^[4]
• Lillian Dean (c.1899–1980), Northern Territory photographer and local politician
• Maggie Diaz (1925–2016), American-born photographer, noted for her 1950s Chicago Collection
• Ada Driver (1868–1954), Australian portrait photographer who ran a studio on Queen street in Brisbane in the early twentieth century
• Rozalind Drummond (born 1956), postmodernism photographic artist

E

• Sandy Edwards (born 1948), documentary photographer and curator of photography, known for personal approach to documentary
• Mireille Eid (Astore) (born 1961), Lebanese-born artist and photographer
• Odette England (born 1975)
• Joyce Evans (1929–2019), opened the first commercial photo gallery in Melbourne, later working herself in portraiture and landscapes, taught history of photography
• Samantha Everton, contemporary photographic artist

F

• Anne Ferran (born 1949), photographic artist
• Sue Ford (1943–2009), celebrated photographer of social life, known for her personal approach to her subjects^[5]

G

• Anne Geddes (born 1956), stylized photographs of babies published in book-form or calendars
• Juno Gemes (born 1944), Hungarian-Australian known for photography of aboriginals
• Heather George (1907–1983), commercial industrial, fashion and outback photographer and painter
• Kate Geraghty (born 1972), photojournalist for the Sydney Morning Herald, covered the 2002 Bali bombings and 2003 invasion of Iraq

H

• Liz Ham (born 1975), Sydney-based photographer of urban life, fashion, music and politics, also known for book Punk Girls^[6]
• C. Moore Hardy (born 1955), Sydney-based photographer, documenting the Sydney queer community since the late 1970s
• Ponch Hawkes (born 1946), Melbourne-based photographer
• Merris Hillard (born 1949), printmaker and photographer
• Ruth Hollick (1883–1977), Melbourne-based portrait and fashion photographer^[7]
• Louisa Elizabeth How (1821–1893), early woman photographer

J

• Carol Jerrems (1949–1980), explored issues of sexuality, youth, identity and mortality

K

• Bronwyn Kidd (born 1969), fashion, magazine and portrait photographer
• Katrin Koenning (born 1978), German-Australian photographer, photojournalist and videographer

L

• Leah King-Smith, photographer and digital media artist
• Pamela Lofts, book illustrator, photographer, and artist

M

• Ruth Maddison (born 1945), explores themes of relationships, communities and families
• Elsie Rosaline Masson (1890–1935), photographer, writer and traveller
• Barbara McGrady (born 1950), indigenous photographer
• Louisa Anne Meredith (1812–1895), writer and early photographer
• Margaret Michaelis-Sachs (1902–1985), see Poland
• Alice Mills (1870–1929), successful photographer in Melbourne
• Jacqueline Mitelman (born 1968), portrait photographer
• Tracey Moffatt (born 1960), explores issues of sexuality, history, representation and race^[8]
• May and Mina Moore (May 1881–1931; Mina 1882–1957), New Zealand-born portrait photographers^[9]
• Hedda Morrison (1908–1991), see Germany

N

• June Newton (1923–2021), photographs under the pseudonym Alice Springs

P

• Polixeni Papapetrou (1960–2018), noted for her themed photo series about people's identities
• Lillian Louisa Pitts (1872–1947), music teacher and professional photographer

R

• Jacky Redgate (born 1955), sculptor, installation artist and photographer
• Leonie Reisberg (born 1955), photographer and lecturer in photography

S

• Rebecca Shanahan, NSW-based artist and photographer
• Rose Simmonds (1877–1960), British-born Queensland photographer and member of the Pictorialism movement^[10]
• Alexia Sinclair (born 1976), fine-art photographer
• Ruby Spowart (born 1928), photographs of the Australian outback in the 1980s and 1990s
• Robyn Stacey (born 1952), camera obscura photographs, evocative still life using historical collections

Z

• Anne Zahalka (born 1957), photographer^[11]

See also

• List of women photographers

Bibliography

• Ennis, Helen. "1970s Photographic Practice: A Homogenous View?" Photofile 4, no. 1 (Autumn 1986): 12–15.
• Hall, Barbara and Jenni Mather. Australian Women Photographers: 1840–1960. Richmond: Greenhouse, 1986.
• Moore, Catriona. Indecent Exposures: Twenty Years of Australian Feminist Photography. St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1994.
• Newton, Gael. “The Movement of Women.” Art and Australia 33, no. 1 (Spring 1995): 62–9.

Notes and References

1. Trent Parke and Narelle Autio, The Seventh Wave, Kirribilli, NSW: Hot Chilli Press, 2000; Michael Fitzgerald, Narelle Autio and Trent Parke: 'To the sea', Photofile, No. 93, spring / Summer 2013: 56-61.
2. Jane Burton and Ingrid Periz, Jane Burton: other stories, Balaclava, Victoria: M.33, 2011.
3. Brenda L. Croft, "Blak Lik Mi." Art and Australia 31, no. 1 (Spring 1993): 63-67; Brenda L. Croft, "Still in My Mind: An Exploration of Practice-Led Experimental Research in Progress." Cultural Studies Review 21, no. 1 (March 2015): 230-48; Larissa Behrendt, "Brenda Croft: Subalter/N/Ative Dreams." In Subalter/N/Ative Dreams, edited by Brenda Croft. Paddington: Stills Gallery, 2016.
4. Brenda L. Croft and Destiny Deacon, In My Father’s House and Postcards from Mummy. Sydney: Australian Centre of Photography, 1998
5. Maggie Finch et al, Sue Ford 1943-2009, Melbourne, Vic.: National Gallery of Victoria, 2014.
6. Web site: PUNK GIRLS . www.manuscriptdaily.com . 16 December 2018 . 16 December 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181216074400/http://www.manuscriptdaily.com/2017/11/punk-girls/ . dead .
7. Book: Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 5 January 2020. 11 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190911101551/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/hollick-ruth-miriam-10521. live.
8. Tracey Moffatt and Gerald Matt, "An Interview with Tracey Moffatt." In Tracey Moffatt, edited by Paula Savage and Lara Strongman. Wellington: City Gallery Wellington, 2002; Tracey Moffatt and Brigitte Reinhardt, Tracey Moffatt: Laudanum, Ostfildern Germany: Hatje Cantz, 1999; Tracey Moffatt, Sydney: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2003.
9. Book: Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. 5 January 2020. 26 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191226143039/http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/moore-minnie-louise-mina-7803. live.
10. Melissa Miles, The Language of Light and Dark: Light and Place in Australian Photography, Sydney: Power Publications, 2015, pp. 66-70.
11. Anne Zahalka, Hall of mirrors: Anne Zahalka, portraits 1987-2007, Fitzroy: Centre for Contemporary Photography, 2007.