Women on Women (from the Fraction Archive)
Curated by Jessie Wender
March 8th is International Women's Day. In celebration of this day, I combed the 71 issues of Fraction for photographs of women taken by women photographers. Whether it is a sister, daughter, friend or stranger, do we see ourselves differently from male photographers? These portraits spoke to me both in the strength of the image and the strength of the female subjects. The photographs are funny, traditional, beautiful or uncomfortable, and show women in powerful ways, either directly engaged with the photographer, or reflective and introspective. Seen through the lenses of thirty different female photographers these portraits capture intimate familial bonds, brooding adolescence, young sexuality, the strength of motherhood, and the dignity of old age.
Jessie Wender (@jmwender) is a senior photo editor at National Geographic Magazine where she commissions and researches features and the magazine's short form sections, including Visions, Proof, and Departments. She loves working with artists and with creative people, and is a huge supporter of emerging photographers. Before coming to National Geographic, Wender was a photo editor at The New Yorker, where she commissioned the magazine's portraiture and photography for the arts and culture features, and wrote for the Photo Booth blog. She also worked in the photo departments of Esquire and Time Inc., for the photo agency VII, at the Stephen Cohen Gallery, in Los Angeles, and as a producer of Photo LA. Jessie currently lives in Washington DC.
