The Strange Reality of Being a Woman Photographer Online

Welcome to In the Flash, a reader-supported publication about intent and creativity in photography.

I am quite allergic to the heroic photographer shot, which is any photo of myself holding a camera and looking serious, but I needed one to advertise my newsletter. After agonizing about the choice of a photo, I decided that the proper way to introduce myself to new readers had to be an image where my vocation is clearly readable, so I used this snapshot taken while on an assignment in Hawaii.

The comments that I received under this image reminded me that I should never take my mostly positive experiences as a woman photographer for granted. Many noted I was holding the camera wrong and doubted that I was, in fact, a photographer. Others thought I was photoshopped onto the lava background. And some inquired if I had an OnlyFans page. “The lava is hot and so is she,” was one of the more anodyne examples of such commentary. Needless to say, all of these were left by men.