Frances Clayton posed as a soldier during the American Civil War, 1861-1865 (University of Virginia)
'Linda Lens' swipes a Nazi soldier with her camera. Camera Comics, 1944
'Hula girl' photo studio, Hawai'i 1940s © The Walther Collection
Please note: images on this page reflect my research for the book and do not imply inclusion in the final publication.
Ungentle Camera offers the first in-depth, theorised study of the fraught relationship between women’s photography and war.
I'm currently working with University of Texas Press on a book that distills 25 years of research and reflection.
I've always chafed against the idea that women are biologically disposed to make certain kinds of photography. In my book, I show how gendered structures and constraints—in society, education, work, politics and the military—have shaped women's wartime photography.
I show how women co-opted suitably ‘feminine’ photographic pursuits, such as domestic portraiture, snapshot photography and compiling photo albums. Their activities—from making portraits of Confederate soldiers in an army camp to running ‘hula girl’ photo studios in militarised Hawai’i—persistently demonstrate their assertion of agency in the masculinised sphere of war.
A.V. Going by Elizabeth Beachbard, 1861 © J. Dale West
'Los fronterizos', 1912 by Sara Castrejón © Profra. Paula Delgado/Samuel Villela
Kodak advertisement, 1940s
The themes explored in the book—mass media technology, female entrepreneurship, women in combat roles, the witnessing of atrocities, and gender identity, among others—remain acutely relevant in today’s world.
Ungentle Camera offers a fascinating revisionist account of war, photography and gender. Publication anticipated 2026.