It\u2019s no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of wildlife photographers are male. But what are the factors behind this, why aren\u2019t there more female wildlife photographers, and, crucially, is change on the horizon?<\/p>\n

$\""Ad\u00e9lie\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>How hard is it for women to make a living as wildlife photographers?<\/h2>\n
I have, at times, felt lost, with no role models to guide me, but I have pushed through the challenges and forged my own way. I make it work by being choosy about assignments and being faithful to a rule that I will never be gone for more than two weeks. This puts me out of the running for long-term commissions and self-directed projects in the field, and means I can\u2019t lead back-to-back photo safaris in Africa. I\u2019ve had to diversify my income streams, branching out into other work that uses my expertise: writing articles, consulting, judging contests, selling prints. Being skilful in a number of areas (whether you\u2019re a parent or not) is essential to making a living in this field.<\/p>\n
It must also be said that a key factor for me is a supportive partner. I could not do my job if I wasn\u2019t married to someone willing to do the parenting and run the home when I leave. It\u2019s a huge advantage and a blessing.<\/p>\n
Certainly, motherhood can curtail or even crush this career, at least while children are at home. \u201cMaybe it\u2019s the nature of the fieldwork, or the travel, or just its patriarchal roots, but I\u2019d say that most women don\u2019t believe they can have a family and a career in wildlife photography or cinematography,\u201d says wildlife film-maker Katie Schuler<\/a>. \u201cI recall a women-only meeting at National Geographic<\/i> with some of the world\u2019s top wildlife photographers and magazine editors. Someone asked, \u2018How many of you wish you could have a family but are too afraid because of your career?\u2019 At least half them raised their hands. I was sitting there with my five-month-old, feeling like the gorilla in the room.\u201d<\/p>\n
Yet motherhood can have a positive impact. \u201cI started travelling less because I couldn\u2019t, and taking photos where I was,\u201d says photographer and mother-of-two Annie Marie Musselman<\/a>, from Washington. \u201cMy favourite approach is to photograph animals in a way that shows that we\u2019re all connected. I try to capture the details, such as the eyelashes of a wolf or the tender gaze of an octopus, which resemble our own. Having kids has deepened my skills and made my work more emotive and intentional.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""Wendy\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
What are the safety issues for female wildlife photographers?<\/h2>\n
Interestingly, each of the four women that have won the WPY grand title were, at least at one time, part of a husband-and-wife team. This makes sense, as it can be tough for women to feel safe travelling solo. In some countries it can even carry a stigma.<\/p>\n
\u201cSafety in the field is a barrier to women, especially as we can be alone for long stretches of time,\u201d says wildlife photographer Carla Rhodes<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve put myself in situations that I have been strongly advised against as a solo female. I pushed through the fear, but it made my journey harder.\u201d<\/p>\n
The label \u2018wildlife photographer\u2019 may evoke images of a person roaming the wilderness to photograph elusive species. And not long ago, that might have been the case. But to tell the kinds of visual stories needed during a time of mass extinction and climate change, you need robust photojournalism skills too.<\/p>\n
Conservation photography has become a leading genre, encompassing a broader view of nature photography that holds at its core how humans interact with and affect wildlife and habitats. This requires an ability to photograph people as well as animals.<\/p>\n
As Kathy Moran, director of photography for National Geographic<\/i>, puts it, \u201cAbout 20 years ago, when I became the magazine\u2019s first senior editor for natural history, I thought it might help to reframe our approach. I thought we should consider stories through the lens of conservation. That approach had far more appeal because it broadened the narrative and played to a much wider base of photographers. Eventually, we were working with more women and telling far more interesting stories.\u201d<\/p>\n
So the very term \u2018wildlife photographer\u2019 may be too limited to describe what\u2019s now called for: a well-rounded visual storyteller capable of depicting the human impact on wildlife and landscapes.<\/p>\n
$\""Portrait\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>What opportunities exist for young female wildlife photographers?<\/h2>\n
And what about the younger generation? According to WPY, nearly 40 per cent of young competition entrants are female, compared with just over 20 per cent in the adult categories.<\/p>\n
Given these promising figures, how do we foster the interest in young women? Aside from photojournalism workshops and courses, there are, in the USA, several higher-education conservation photography courses, such as those offered by Stanford University and the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. There\u2019s also the American University\u2019s Center for Environmental Filmmaking.<\/p>\n
But bringing more young women into photography may mean reaching into other disciplines. We should, for instance, be encouraging young biologists to take cameras into the field to document their research. This is how photographer Jen Guyton got started. A solid grounding in science can be a huge asset in photography.<\/p>\n
In an increasingly urbanised society, educational possibilities also need to be created in cities. How do we create accessible programmes, such as Jane Goodall\u2019s Roots and Shoots<\/a>, that can be replicated and scaled up, and that address both geographical and gender diversity?<\/p>\n
$\""Teenage\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
One template is provided by Girls Who Click<\/a> (GWC), which aims to inspire a new generation of female wildlife photographers. Founded and run by photographer Suzi Eszterhas<\/a>, GWC partners with leading female wildlife photographers to offer free workshops for teenage girls. Role models are important: personal stories shared by those who have \u2018made it\u2019 show that the paths to success are varied.<\/p>\n
Recent years have seen a big leap in awareness of the need to increase diversity and welcome photographers from all ethnicities and genders, from recipients of sponsorships to camera brand ambassadors, speaker panels and workshop instructors.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore magazine editors are consciously hiring women,\u201d says photographer and film-maker Morgan Heim<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s almost become a cause as they try to remove barriers.\u201d Organisations are cropping up to help editors and other clients find diverse, professional women photographers from all over the world. These include Her Wild Vision<\/a>, founded by Morgan and fellow conservation photographer Jaymi Heimbuch<\/a>, which currently lists 123 women. \u201cBut there\u2019s still a lag,\u201d says Morgan. \u201cA friend just became what I believe is the third woman to be assigned a wildlife story in National Geographic<\/i>, at least as a solo photographer.\u201d<\/p>\n
$\""BBC\"$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Removing barriers and introducing incentives are also helpful strategies to funnel more women into photo contests. Morgan describes how, last year, when the Big Picture Natural World Photo Competition<\/a> identified a drastic disparity between male and female entrants, it embarked on a campaign to incentivise and engage women photographers. By the end, entries had reached a near 50\/50 split.<\/p>\n
She also suggests contests think of incentives that might encourage more women to enter, such as putting a portion of the entry fees towards a scholarship for under-represented photographers or an environmental cause, because \u201cit taps into the community and care-giving qualities so ubiquitous among us\u201d.<\/p>\n
According to Roz, WPY is moving in this direction, encouraging entries from regions that are currently under-represented and waiving the entry fee for 50 countries where the \u00a330 could present a financial barrier. The contest also plans to contact organisations that can help encourage more entries from women of all ages, as well as those that support diversity, and is striving for a representative jury \u2013 in 2022, this will comprise four women and three men.<\/p>\n
Cultural change is slow, happening over generations. But it is happening. The world is waking up to the idea that women are just as capable in the arena of wildlife photography as men, and that their voices and visions are uniquely qualified. \u201cI see a lot of women bringing a tenderness and intimacy to their subjects,\u201d says Morgan. \u201cThey don\u2019t shrink away from hard emotional scenes and they find it even in the most \u2018mundane\u2019 of creatures. Women have a great power to remind us that the most ordinary things still shine with the extraordinary.\u201d<\/p>\n
One could argue that\u2019s what\u2019s needed in this day and age, more than anything.<\/p><\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Melissa Groo Published: Monday, 07 March 2022 at 12:00 am It\u2019s no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of wildlife photographers are male. But what are the factors behind this, why aren\u2019t there more female wildlife photographers, and, crucially, is change on the horizon? Looking through the winners of the Natural History Museum\u2019s prestigious Wildlife […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":11391,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"10"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female.jpg",2000,1333,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/03\/why-are-so-few-wildlife-photographers-female.jpg",2000,1333,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Melissa Groo Published: Monday, 07 March 2022 at 12:00 am It\u2019s no coincidence that the overwhelming majority of wildlife photographers are male. But what are the factors behind this, why aren\u2019t there more female wildlife photographers, and, crucially, is change on the horizon? Looking through the winners of the Natural History Museum\u2019s prestigious Wildlife…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/11390"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}