10 Years Of Female And Non-Binary Vision: A Free Guide
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Published22 Jul 2026
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Author
What does it mean to build a photographic career today as a woman or non-binary photographer? We asked ten practitioners the same seven questions. The conversation that followed sketches a nuanced, complex picture on the industry.
For 10 years, the PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant has brought together photographers from different generations, geographies, and photographic traditions.
Created in partnership with MPB, Europe’s top camera reseller, the free guide 10 Years Of Female And Non-Binary Vision features essays, conversations, practical advice, historical reflections, and contributions. Part celebration, part practical resource, it looks at the history of women and non-binary photographers, the realities of navigating the industry, and lessons from a decade of prize recipients and jurors, with the hope of offering inspiration, insights, and new perspectives.
"I understand the female gaze less as a visual style and more as a shift in power. It asks who gets to look, who gets represented, who gets to construct meaning, and how. I'm interested in creating photographs that resist easy readings, leaving room for complexity. If there is a female gaze in my practice, perhaps it lies in that refusal of certainty, in the embrace of nuance."
– Marisol Mendez, 2024 Main Prize Recipient
The collective reflection of Carla Rossi, Cédrine Scheidig, Chingrimi Shimray, Farren van Wyk, Maria Montes Duran, Marisol Mendez, Natalie Keyssar, Pretika Menon, Ramona Jingru Wang, Raphaela Rosella, and Rita Puig-Serra Costa does not offer a definitive statement. Instead, it reveals shared concerns, differences and – most of all – personal strategies. It maps the women, non-binary, and gender non-conforming artists whose work has shaped their practice. It shows how diversely concepts such as the female gaze can be understood, challenged, or reimagined. It questions the structures that continue to exclude, and names the changes that are still necessary for the medium to evolve.
"I am very pleased to see how the field has become more inclusive. I only wish this diversity, which is increasingly reflected among photographers, were equally present within juries, museums, and other positions of influence. While I see more and more women in these spaces, women of colour remain underrepresented, and access to these positions is still too limited".
– Cédrine Scheidig, 2023 Main Prize Recipient
The guide further features PhMuseum Founding and Artistic Director Giuseppe Oliverio's foreword One Project At A Time, sketching the evolutions that took place in the past decade, and photographer Stella Meyer's essay Who Makes It Into History?, questioning the continuous "redescovery" of female and non-binary photographers in historical accounts. A practical closing section comprises a mini field guide called Facing The System; a chat with Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director of the PhotoVogue Festival Alessia Glaviano; and an archival retrospective unpacking years of jury insights to explore the conversations that define photography today.
You can download your free PDF at phmuseum.com/women10
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About MPB
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About The PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant
Now in its 10th edition, the PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant aims to support the work and careers of female and non-binary professionals of all ages and from all countries working in diverse areas of photography. Its mission is to support the growth of the new generations and promote stories narrated from a female and non-binary perspective while responding to the need to work for gender equality in the industry.
You are welcome to present your work starting from 8 September. Learn more at phmuseum.com/w26.
