"Women can’t be heard if we can’t be seen” - Renée Jacobs
Photos de Femmes organization is dedicated to giving a powerful voice to iconic representations of women and to continually promote positive depictions of women around the world.
Throughout her career, photographer Renée Jacobs has heard men tell her how women “should” be portrayed. She’s photographed hundreds of women and exhibited across the globe, all the while facing comments like “Women can’t look like this” and “They must look like that.” Now, she’s pushing back with Photos de Femmes, a traveling collection of images that depict women in ways that are truthful, raw, and resonant. Jacobs, along with her wife and collaborator Wendy Hicks, unveil their first exhibition of many, womenSEEwomen, at Miami Photo Fest 2019.
womenSEEwomen includes nine female photographers, including Jacqueline Roberts, all bound by what Jacobs calls a quality of the “dreamy,” “mystical,” or “ethereal.” These images are truly labors of love, and multiple artists have employed time-consuming alternative processes–and devoted many hours to the darkroom–in bringing them to life.
The talk will be followed by an audience Q&A session for answers to all your questions.
Participating Artists:
- ANNE SILVER - My photography is influenced by my need in helping others heal and by my own process of healing. In my narrative portraiture, I prefers to photograph models (including myself, as many of my photos are self-portraits) who fall outside of the very narrow and constricted standards of western beauty.
- CARMEN DE VOS - I dare, I challenge, I laugh, I cherish women who are just that tad deliciously wicked, audacious, pushing the portrait beyond the boundaries of ordinary life.
- ELIZABETH OPALENIK - I strive to convey that everyone has an inner beauty to be seen, especially women, authentic and natural in their elements. It’s an honor to document the soul and beauty of women...those that accept themselves...unnoticed in an often unaccepting world. To them I say, “Embrace yourself, for you are a work of art.”
- JACQUELINE ROBERTS - My work presents a collection of intimacy brought fourth by using obsolete photographic techniques. Reviving the craft associated with photography constitutes an essential part of my process, from mixing my own chemistry, cutting glass plates to working around chemical flaws.
- MAGGIE STEBER - I love being a woman and I want always to be sure that when I photograph a woman, no matter her situation, that the best thing about her is going to come through, even in the worst situations.
- SARAH HADLEY - My work is meant to express the joys and heartache of being female in the 21st century. My images are almost all self-portraits, which illustrate my own experiences, desires and dreams. Created as cyanotypes and photo based collages, they address the female psyche and the strength that comes from aging.
- SUSAN de WITT - I strive for an ethereal and nostalgic look that evokes a questionable authenticity to reality. I find there’s a tangible connection between women that allows a certain ease and comfort between artist and muse, a kind of intimacy, physical closeness and trust.
Renée Jacobs is the recipient of the International Photography Award for Fine Art Nude. Renée’s images have been exhibited and published around the world. She has exhibited in Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Los Angeles, Paris, Amsterdam, Italy to name a few. Her published works include solo monographs including RENÉE JACOBS’ PARIS and inclusion in Taschen anthologies. She runs workshops at her home in the south of France and is the Executive Director of the new photo festival, Photos de Femmes.
