All posts filed under: Community

“I am alive, these are my days.” Wika Wójcikiewicz is rebranding aging

Frustrated by the way aging in women is seen in Polish society, Wika Wójcikiewicz has set out to debunk the myth that life ends after 50. “What is the difference between my body and a woman who’s 70 years old? It’s literally just wrinkles,” asserts the soon-to-be photography graduate Wika Wójcikiewicz. Having spent a good part of the past six months on the road, Wika has travelled across her home country Poland to capture the inner lives of four women in their 70s who are not satisfied with being contained to an outdated view of what it means to get older. Her finishing project for her bachelor’s in photography at London College of Communication “Life is not boring, you are”, goes beyond what is normally seen of “women of a certain age” and documents their colorful lives. “Many young people consider age as something that we should be scared of, as something lonely, boring and full of limitations. We are told that our minds and bodies are the most beautiful in our 20s, hence …

Women portraying women: three female photographers to zoom in on

Since the invention of photography, countless images have been taken with women as the subject. Most of these have historically been taken by men. As more women are carving out a space for themselves in the industry, the way women on both sides of the camera are represented is changing. We asked three female photographers about the depiction of women in their work and their thoughts on what the future looks like for women in photography. Note: This article was originally published in March 2022. Eva Sitko Through her colorful style of photography, German photographer and former graphic designer Eva Sitko works to bring out emotions in her subjects to show the interpersonal dynamics of our feelings. Sitko takes a keen interest in her subjects’ emotional display, in particular when shooting women. “A self-confident, strong woman who deals openly with her emotions is the incarnation of beauty for me.” Her interest in the emotional life of her subjects has led her to notice differences in how men and women are represented. “Women are often portrayed …

RAW Talent with Wika Wójcikiewicz

Despite moving to the UK at 19, Wika Wójcikiewicz has not left her Eastern European roots behind. Allowing for curated “mistakes” in her work, the Polish photographer is inspired by the natural, raw, and sometimes gritty side of life and often brings elements from her own upbringing into her photos through the colors, motifs, and subjects she captures. The soon-to-be London College of Communication graduate shares her thoughts on the in-between moments that create true beauty, mixing media and genres, and how to understand your own aesthetic. What was your first experience in photography like? I recall one of my first endeavors with photography occurring when I was gifted a small, plastic, pink-colored Nikon camera at eight years old. I got it for my first communion and started having fun by taking my first images and filming with my friends where we would even partake in styling, set design, and putting together childish scripts. At twelve years old, the idea of becoming a documentary photographer came into my mind. My interests in other subjects, such …

Authority Collective shares their guide for more thoughtful photography practices

Authority Collective’s guide to inclusive photography

With a mission to empower marginalized visual artists, Authority Collective is working to end systemic and individual abuse in editorial, documentary, and commercial photography. In their Photographer’s Guide to Inclusive Photography, the group is challenging photographers to think about their responsibility when telling visual stories. “The guide definitely came out of the recognition that photography, since its inception, has been an extremely extractive space,” explains Tara Pixley about the Photographer’s Guide to Inclusive Photography, which addresses the specific things photographers should consider when shooting stories related to race, gender, sexuality and more. Tara is a visual journalist, professor, and one of the founding members of Authority Collective, a community for women, non-binary, and gender expansive people of color working with photography, film, and VR/AR to connect and share resources. It was at a conference in 2017 that Tara and nine other photographers of color got together to create the collective after noticing they had all had similar experiences in the photography industry – many of them experiencing microaggressions from usually male and white photo editors, …