Lux et Libera: Philly Edition
20/20 Photo Festival
The Halide Project
Saturday, September 3 – Sunday, October 16, 2022
Justyna Badach
Jackie Neale
Sandra C. Davis
Andrea Modica (one piece)
Laurie Beck-Peterson
Heather Palecek
Dale Rio
Amanda Tinker
Although it may seem that we have made great strides toward gender parity in the arts, statistics show otherwise. On their website, the National Museum of Women in the Arts cites research showing that in a recent survey of eighteen prominent collections in the U.S., 87% of represented artists are male and 85% white (Public Library of Science*), and that although 45.8% of visual artists in the U.S. are women, they only earn .74 to every $1 earned by male artists with that earning gap increasing as women age to the point where women aged 55 – 64 earn .66 to every $1 earned by men (National Endowment of the Arts*).
This disparity certainly exists in the world of photography – particularly in commercial photography and within staid institutions – but in the post-digital age, I have found that within the fields of film and alternative/historic process photography, it is women who are leading the way in education, research, publishing, experimentation, and image-making. Why this may be, I have no concrete answer. However in conversations with other women in the field, several theories have been proposed, including an application of the ability to forge their own paths so often required by women in life itself, the freedom of working outside of the very institutions that often do not best serve female faculty, employees, and students, and women’s tendency to work collaboratively. These theories are, of course, based on generalities, but there does seem to be something about this alternative method of creation that attracts and celebrates women.
Lux et Libera: women at the intersection of light and chemistry is a new initiative that seeks to illuminate women working in film and historic processes by providing opportunities for them to discuss, share, and create work. Lux et Libera: Philly edition is an exhibition – held in conjunction with the 20/20 Photo Festival and hosted by The Halide Project – that celebrates female practitioners of film and alternative processes who live and work in the Philadelphia area. Not only do these women serve by example as artists, but they also share their passion with others through teaching, writing, curating, publishing, and working in the non-profit sector. Their work represents a broad cross-section of processes, including experimental cyanotype, gum bichromate, platinum/palladium, pinhole, and wet plate, and it is my hope that it inspires other women and girls to explore new methods of self-expression.
