Picfair, the London-based photography platform, today announces the category winners and overall winner of their second annual Women Behind the Lens competition. Launched to celebrate the work of female photographers in an industry in which they are hugely under-represented, this year’s entrants ranged from 52 countries across Picfair’s global network.
London, (Photo Summit) — In the photographic world, the female viewpoint is hugely under-represented. The overwhelming majority of images found within the professional domain are taken by men: Just 2% of photographers on the books at major commercial agencies are women, and for every woman ambassador working for the major camera brands, there are 6 men. (Fox 2017)
Photo Credit: Domain Market
Picfair’s Women Behind the Lens returns this year with images chosen from a longlist of 2500 entries submitted from 52 countries. The exhibition, at the Guardian News & Media’s public gallery at the entrance to its London HQ, features five shortlisted images from four categories: Portrait, Architecture, Nature, and Street Level.
Picfair’s open platforms allows every type of photographer, from any background, to showcase and sell their work – through their own personalised stores and through the Picfair marketplace, where millions of images are curated to give image buyers a more diverse and authentic perspective of the world. After the exhibition closes, the work of every female photographer entered in Women Behind the Lens will continue to be showcased to their global audience of publishers and businesses.
The overall winner of the 2018 competition is Mexico-based photographer Maureen Ruddy Burkhart, whose capture of a wedding scene in downtown Guanajuato, Mexico, also won the Street category.
The Architecture category was won by Lebanese university teacher Eliane Haykal, with a shot of a small church in the Slovenian countryside.
The Portrait category was won by Yvette Barnett, a tour guide from Cornwall, UK, with an image of a Dhobi wallah in Cochin, India.
The Nature category was won by Jacqueline Davidson, manager of a scotch egg company in Scotland, with a black and white shot of a fern unfurling in the north west Highlands of Scotland.
About Picfair
Picfair is a London-based photography platform that allows every type of photographer, from any background, to showcase and sell their work – through their own personalised stores and through the Picfair marketplace, where millions of images are curated to give image buyers a more diverse and authentic perspective of the world.
About Women Behind the Lens
Women Behind the Lens was launched in 2017, when the inaugural competition was won by Milton Keynes-based paramedic Emma Williams. This year’s competition and exhibition was curated by Picfair Creative Director Sally Hart, and judged by The Guardian’s Head of Photography Fiona Shields, The Pool’s Head of Art & Pictures Deborah Castle, Photomonitor Founding Editor Christiane Monarchi, and VCCP Blue’s Head of Creative Production Julia Arenson. The exhibition runs until November 30th at Guardian News & Media, 90 York Way, Kings Cross, London, N1 9GU, United Kingdom. Free admission.