Maggie Steber
Image Source: https://nppa.org/page/photo-journal-maggie-steber-rite-passageMaggie Steber has traveled to 64 countries throughout her career as a photographer as she focuses on humanitarian, culture, and social stories. Steber has received many honors as a photographer as well including the Leica Medal of Excellence, World Press Photo Foundation, the Overseas Press Club, Pictures of the Year, the Medal of Honor for Distinguished Service to Journalism from the University of Missouri, the Alicia Patterson and Ernst Haas Grants, and a Knight Foundation grant for the New American Newspaper project.
Steber had worked in Haiti for more than three decades and in 2013 National Geographic Magazine named her and eleven others Women of Vision. Steber has served as a Newsweek Magazine contract photographer and as the Assistant Managing Editor of Photography and Features at The Miami Herald. All of Steber’s work is also featured in the Library of Congress. She also has many clients including National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Smithsonian Magazine, AARP, The Guardian, and Geo Magazine, just to name a few.
When asked if she thinks gender has anything to do with the way she works in any way, she responded with “In Afghanistan and Iraq I think women are very exposed because these are cultures with ideologies in which women are regarded as expendable. I feel equal to my male colleagues and I never stop to think, "I'm a woman, I shouldn't do this." I also try to encourage other women; it's a damn sight better to be generous than to be competitive. It's astonishing how many young women are now coming into photography, and of course there is always interest in younger people from picture editors. She continued by saying People can tire of you very quickly, and as a woman it's tougher. I think that is worse now than it has ever been. A man can act aggressive and demanding and he's viewed as strong, whereas a woman knows her mind and she's a bitch.
While in Haiti, Seber was almost beheaded by machetes but this wasn’t the worst risk she had faced in her career. While in Africa, a guide pulled a knife on her and dragged her into a cave. Seber also exclaims how she was sexually assaulted on Subways multiple times in New York. It almost seems like none of these types of situations that have happened to Seber throughout her career seem to affect her in any way, shape, or form and this is the type of attitude we need to see in more female photographers. Seber is an inspiration to women all around the world and especially to female photographers.
As Professor Nordell stated, “Some may argue that there is no need to classify photojournalists say by race or gender, but I believe that women photojournalists, along with women in many different professions have encountered barriers unlike any that their male counterparts have endured.” This is in fact true in the sense that women often feel self-conscious and fear to show their true personality and to be themselves in the workplace. Women are also often discriminated by race in the workforce and as photojournalists. Marilyn Nance, an African-American photojournalist stated that she often felt alienated and excluded at the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography awards ceremony but eventually found comfort within herself and didn’t care what other people thought of her. Photojournalist, Lynsey Addario had mentioned in her video how she has been asked “Should women even be in warzones or cover conflict?” and she then stated that she does not think that is the right question to ask because Addario knew of two people who were killed who happened to be men. The point Addario was trying to make while saying this is that it doesn’t matter whether you are a man or a woman, anything can happen to anyone at any given moment. Some people have this perceived thought that just because you are a woman, something bad is automatically going to happen to you, whether it be sexual assault or being killed or kidnapped.
Not only female photographers or photojournalists get discriminated in the workplace, but discrimination towards females happen in a lot of fields of work. Women may often hear people say “you can’t do that, that’s a man’s job” or “are you sure you can do that?”. Some jobs where women might face discrimination are as construction workers, police officers, or firefighters. Women are also discriminated in the way that most fields of work do not offer equal pay. Women tend to get paid less than men for doing the same amount of work. This discrimination can come in the form of sexual harassment, withholding promotions based on gender, giving a different job title to a woman and preventing women from participating in training opportunities. Although a lot of discrimination towards female workers still occurs, there is a lot of work being done to try and stop this discrimination and laws are starting to come out preventing discrimination against women. Federal laws are enforced by the U.S. Employment Equal Opportunity Commission to ensure that women are protected from gender-based discrimination in the workplace.
Photo by: Maggie Steber
Image Source: http://www.maggiesteber.com/main.html#Haiti
Year Created: Unknown
Principle #1: Rule of thirds
Rule of thirds is
being used in this photo. The subject is slightly off to the side and not
directly in the center of the photo. Steber positioned the camera perfectly to
capture the perfect angle.
Principle #2: Subject’s expression:
In this photo, the
subject is expressing joy and happiness. This photo is a good example of
showing emotion that makes the viewer of the image also feel the same type of
emotion in the photograph. This is also a great image because even though the
people of Haiti face hardships, many people who live there constantly show
happiness and this is exactly what the girl in the photo is showing.
Principle #3 Keep it Simple
This photograph is
keeping it simple. There is nothing else going on that distracts the viewer
from the main subject. It was a great idea by the photographer to capture this
image on a piece of land where nothing was going on in the background.
Photo By: Maggie Steber
Image Source: http://www.maggiesteber.com/main.html#Haiti
Year taken: Unknown
Principle #1 Exposure Time
This image shows
created blur. This means that the camera had a slow shutter speed setting.
Having a slow shutter speed gives the ability to blur the background of the
photo. This principle gave a cool and interesting feel to the photo.
Principle #2 In or out of Focus
The image seems to
be a little bit out of focus. This is done by changing the aperture and shutter
speed of the camera. Having the image out of focus also helps the blur become
more distinct.
Principle #3 Quality of light
The quality of
light in this image gives a bold and dramatic feel. The lighting is not too
harsh and not to dim either. The quality of light also coincides with the blur
technique to making the image interesting.
Photo by: Maggie Steber
Image Source: http://www.maggiesteber.com/main.html#Greatest
Year Taken: Unknown
Principle #1 Quality of light
This image uses
the technique of backlight. All you can see is the outline and the shadows of
the subjects. It makes the image bold and engaging.
Principle #2 In or Out of focus
The image is a bit
out of focus but just enough where it is still a great quality photo. The image
shows the fence out of focus but the subjects are sharp.
Principle #3 Keep it simple
The image is
slightly cluttered and not very simple yet the image is not cluttered in the
sense that it makes for a bad image. The image catches the eye of the viewer.
