Photography is a powerful tool of expression with the potential to question norms, bring visibility to realities, and build new narratives. Throughout history, the image has been used both to reinforce and to subvert gender stereotypes. In a world where visual representation profoundly influences how we understand identity, femininity, and diversity, many female photographers have found in their art a means to break barriers and offer new perspectives that reflect the plurality of experiences.
Women and non-binary individuals in photography have had to carve their path in an industry that has long been dominated by men. However, with their lenses, they have captured moments that reveal the complexity of gender identities, challenging reductive representations and expanding the view on femininity, the body, work, motherhood, resistance, and autonomy. Each camera shot is an affirmation of diversity and a statement against the norms that have tried to define what gender should be.
Through their images, these artists portray realities that have been ignored, misunderstood, or rendered invisible for too long. Their photographs not only capture the strength, vulnerability, and resistance of women and dissident identities but also highlight the authenticity of those who, because of their identity, are systematically marginalized or stigmatized. Moving away from stereotypes, these photographers explore more genuine territories, where the body, face, and emotions are depicted in their true complexity.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we have spoken with several photographers who use their work to challenge gender stereotypes. We asked them:
How do you use photography to challenge gender stereotypes and tell stories from a feminine perspective?
Below, we share their answers, their visions, and their impactful works, which invite us to reflect on the power of the image to question dominant narratives and contribute to the construction of a more just and discrimination-free world.
Laura Lobos
«Spain is undergoing a profound transformation, driven by immigrant communities of the first, second, and third generations. This new socio-cultural identity construction is at the core of my work. I am deeply interested in exploring how different communities interact, through a perspective that challenges stereotypes and avoids portraying cultures and people superficially. My work is committed to seeking and documenting from a feminine perspective, thus offering a much more intimate and vulnerable viewpoint.
Through photography, I try to bring culture closer to fashion, drawing inspiration from real stories, traditions, and values that are being shaped due to generational change. My work, therefore, is based on observing and communicating how the new generation is driving a profound social change and constructing a new global identity. One of the key points of my work as a photographer is also to offer a perspective that allows us to move away from socially imposed standards based on our gender. I always try to distance myself from reproducing male and female stereotypes in order to offer a critical and reflective perspective on the clichés that often surround and envelop all the communities I work with.»
Laura Lobos is a freelance photographer and creative director born on the outskirts of Barcelona. Driven by the vision of connecting streetwear with a documentary approach, her work focuses on showcasing the new generation's collectives and communities in Spain, adopting a multicultural perspective that reflects her upbringing and environment.
Joanna Chichelnitzky
«The constant questioning that photography exerts on me creates a love-hate relationship with this profession. Hate towards the industry and established roles, but love towards photography's possibilities to challenge them. I have always felt more comfortable with the term photoactivist, as I believe that photography is a very powerful tool to influence and bring about changes in society, especially on issues that affect me as a woman, a young person, and a working-class individual. I agree with Anna Surinyach when she says that a photograph is worth not more than a thousand words, but it should generate a thousand questions.»
Joanna Chichelnitzky (Barcelona, 1999): Photographer and activist, member of the collective FOTOMOVIMIENTO, and working in the field of communication for eight years, specializing in human rights, social, and political issues, carrying out projects and research on migration, housing, feminism, and youth movements to highlight the human rights violations that occur in these areas.
Roberta Planta
«My photography aims to capture fleeting and unusual moments—unstaged and spontaneous. It is in this spontaneity that I seek to portray people and places around me in a raw and untamed way, from my perspective as a participant, not only a spectator. I love portraying the women around me in the most honest view. As both a participant and an accomplice, I believe those experiences feel tangible and authentic. This is not meant to be pretty, sexy, or catered to the male gaze. It’s just girls being girls—myself included—doing girl things, being messy, defying control, irreverent and unapologetic. Rejecting toxic positivity, embracing authentic chaos.»
Roberta Planta is an amateur photographer, artist and graffiti writer born in Bolivia (1990) running around with a point and shoot camera, living in an on and off nomad lifestyle for the past 4 years, currently bouncing between Madrid and Barcelona.
Tiziana Amico
«Since the beginning of my career, photography has been the bridge that connects my legal training with my commitment to transforming realities. Born in Italy and enriched by my migratory experience, I have learned to observe the world with a critical perspective, sensitive to the multiple dimensions of identity and power. My legal education, with a humanitarian and sociopolitical focus, provided me with the tools to identify and challenge the structures that have historically limited the representation of women and non-binary people.
I use photography as a tool to question and reinvent narratives about female and gendered experiences, going beyond simple visual documentation to create stories that subvert stereotypes. For example, in “Never Was I a Teenager” (‘I Never Was A Teenager’), I address early motherhood from a perspective that highlights the autonomy and emotional complexity of teenage mothers. Rather than merely documenting a fact, I engage in a collaborative process where each protagonist participates in constructing their own narrative. Similarly, in “Ogni fiore porta il profumo del suo segreto” (‘Every flower carries the scent of its secret’), I explore the intersection between memory and trauma, linking my family history with contemporary testimonies of women who have suffered gender-based violence. In both cases, my approach goes beyond mere aesthetics: it’s about reconstructing narratives, offering new perspectives, and creating a space for dialogue in which the experience of being a woman or non-binary person is presented in all its depth. An essential part of my work is active collaboration. Through workshops, interviews, and participant observation, I invite those featured in my photos to build their own narratives alongside me. This approach challenges the one-dimensional representations imposed by an industry historically dominated by men. Thus, my practice becomes an act of reclaiming, where each image is a statement of autonomy and resistance.»
Tiziana Amico (*1991) is an Italian photographer and visual researcher whose work explores the interplay between body and space within the realms of identity, memory and belonging. Through an intimate perspective, her work promotes a dialogue on the complexities of reality. Her background in law shapes her interdisciplinary approach, blending legal research with visual storytelling to challenge societal norms.
Gabriela García
«I believe in art as a way of translating the historical moment we are living in; we are demiurges of our time. My work starts from photography and digital images as references for a pictorial translation, preserving the same visual information in another language. I do not aim to confront stereotypes directly, but I do believe that my perspective offers a different reading of complex environments, through humor, love, and playfulness. Sometimes, what seems light or subtle can also be subversive because it allows questioning norms without rigidity, opening space for other ways of being and inhabiting gender.»
Gabriela García is a Venezuelan/Colombian visual artist whose work is predominantly focused on painting and printmaking, the latter being the medium that marks the beginning of her academic training and through which she conducts her first explorations into seriality, repetition, and reproducibility, recurring themes in her work, both technically and narratively. These figurations draw their source from digital images, everyday photographs, screenshots, or archival images, most of them imbued with values that gravitate around popular or mass culture. Chronologically, her work is structured through an institutional phase, her stay in Caracas, her relocation to Medellín, and her current presence in Barcelona.
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