shashasha

In their continuing thorough examination of the history of photography, in “What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843-1999” publisher 10x10 Photobooks focuses on photobooks created by women from the earliest days of the medium to the last year of the previous millennium.

Divided into themed chapters (“Trailblazers 1843–1919”, “From Ashes to A Family 1946–1955”, “Sexual Politics 1976–1979”, etc.), the book introduces important and influential photobooks by women in pictures, provides in-depth commentary through numerous essays and explanatory texts, draws extensive connections and provides societal and historical context. The sheer wealth of knowledge and the extensive selection of photographers (ranging from figures like Ishiuchi Miyako and Diane Arbus to the likes of Louise Laffon, Rosemarie Clausen and Eudora Welty), photobooks and contributors makes “What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843-1999” an invaluable resource for anyone even marginally interested in the history and diversity of the medium photobook.

"Presenting a diverse geographic and ethnic selection has been a mandate for the What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843-1999 project from its inception. Photobooks included in the project will interpret the concept of the photobook in the widest sense possible: classic bound books, portfolios, personal albums, unpublished books, zines and scrapbooks ...
Also addressed in the project will be the glaring gaps and omissions in current photobook history—in particular the lack of access, support and funding for photobooks by non-western women and women of color."
― from the publisher’s statement