Since the invention of photography in 1839, many of the contributions made by women have been forgotten, leaving their legacy on the margins of history. In recent times, this biased view has evolved thanks to the historiographical rescue of numerous amateur or professional women, regular participants in the different stages of the creative process (researchers, photographers, retouchers, assistants, etc.). In Retratadas, Stéphany Onfray offers a novel approach by analyzing the beginnings of the photographic medium from the perspective of gender. Thanks to a lucid reinterpretation of the relationship that women had with the camera, no longer as operators, but as portrayed, she proposes new lines of reflection to dismantle the hegemonic discourses that have historically confined them to a role of passive observers. Through an exhaustive examination of nineteenth-century visual and material culture, from painting, literature and theatre to the press and a nascent fashion industry, the author explores how, by capitalising on their own image and therefore their bodies, women displaced the boundaries between the sexes, becoming part of a cultural and social dialogue that not only redefined gender boundaries but also favoured a more contemporary, affective and artistic vision of the photographic object.
Stéphany Onfray holds a PhD in Art History from the Complutense University of Madrid. Her dissertation on "Women and photography in 19th-century Spain (1850-1870)" was based on a study of the Colección Castellano at the National Library of Spain. Having studied in France and Spain, she has collaborated with several institutions such as the Prado Museum, the Clothing Museum, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the National Library of Spain. She has also worked as an editorial documentalist for women's history publications. Her work focuses on the relationship that women have had with the photographic image, both as photographers and as portrayed subjects. In particular, she analyzes the strategies used to transform an ideological and political medium into an expressive and personal window.
Retradas. Fotografía, género y modernidad en el siglo xix español [Portrayed. Photography, gender and modernity in 19th century Spain}
Stéphany Onfray
Cátedra, 2024, 360 pages
ISBN 978-84-376-4858-3
€29.95 (paper)
Details: https://catedra.com/libro/arte-grandes-temas/retratadas-stephany-onfray-9788437648583/
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