I’m so fucking fed up of the way that female photographers are treated by their contemporaries on the internet.
Only today did I get an email today that said ‘I assume the man in you photos is your boyfriend?’. Why would you assume that? I do not assume that the men and women in your images are your boyfriends and girlfriends! This was from a so called professional photographer too, so you would think that a professional would have at least a modicum of sense. Could you imagine the outrage if I went around emailing photographers and saying “I assume you’re fucking all the models in your portfolio”. Why is it acceptable to assume that a female photographer is sleeping with her male subjects, but if anyone assumes the other way around then all hell breaks loose!
I can only imagine it is because so many male photographers are so completely lost in their own little world of tits and arse glamour that they cannot imagine a model without pert breasts. This would lead logically to the conclusion that you would only photograph a man (or any model without pert breasts) because you could not convince a ‘proper’ model to work with you, thus meaning you have to settle for shooting your boyfriend/friend/family member.
Well I’m afraid that just isn’t so. I know it’s a shock and goes beyond popular belief, but many of us ladies do indeed enjoy looking at men. This meads to the next logical conclusion that we might even enjoy photographing men for the same reason that many male photographers enjoy photographing women!
I guess all I want is to be treated in the same way that any other photographer is treated. Just because I was born without a penis doesn’t mean that I’m any less deserving of respect.
In future, when asking something along the lines I’ve written here, perhaps you could stop and think to yourself if you would ask a middle aged male photographer the same question. If you wouldnt ask the same question or male the same comment, do me a favor and don’t ask me. Just give me the professional respect I have earned and deserve.
