Collective exhibition "What they saw: historical photobooks of women, 1843-1999"

O IMS Paulista The exhibition will showcase a collection of photobooks that highlight the importance of women in the development of the field of photography. The show, "What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843-1999," brings together 106 books from the Photography Library's collection, including recently acquired titles from 10x10 Photobooks, an organization founded in 2012 by Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich. Based in New York, 10x10 Photobooks is dedicated to the research and sharing of photobooks, promoting exhibitions, publishing books on the subject, and encouraging their appreciation and understanding.

Russet and Olga, who curated the exhibition, comment on the project: “Although studies on the history of photobooks began only 37 years ago, they have been written mostly by men and have focused on publications authored by men. As a non-profit organization whose mission is to share photobooks globally and encourage their appreciation and understanding, the 10×10 team frequently discusses how the history of the photobook has been – and continues to be – written from a biased perspective, and that a 'new' history needs to emerge.”

On opening day, there will be a public conversation at the IMS Photography Library at 18:30 pm, with Russet participating. Admission is free, with tickets available 60 minutes prior.

“The exhibition reinforces the role of the IMS as a center of reference for the study of photobooks and for the circulation of internationally relevant projects. By bringing to the Brazilian public works that span more than a century and a half of production, 'What They Saw' amplifies the debate about the contribution of women to the history of photography and creates new research opportunities,” says Miguel Del Castillo, coordinator of the Photography Library at the Instituto Moreira Salles.

All the books on display can be handled by visitors to the exhibition, which is divided into ten sections – these function as chronological markers, but mainly highlight the historical, socio-political and gender achievement moment in which these women produced their works: “1843-1919: Pioneers”; “1920-1935: The New Woman”; “1936-1945: Raising Their Voices”; “1946-1955: From Ashes to Family”; “1956-1964: Books as Bombs”; “1965-1969: Nostalgia, Pop and Revolution”; “1970-1975: Sisterhood in Bloom”; “1976-1979: Sexual Politics”; “1980-1989: A Global Awakening”; and “1990-1999: In Search of a Photodemocracy”.

“Pioneers,” for example, includes the work of the Englishwoman Anna Atkins, who, in 1843, self-published Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, originally handwritten and illustrated with 307 cyanotypes of various British algae. In the exhibition, she is present in a contemporary edition of the publication. Also in this section is the oldest example on display, Dream Children (1901), by the American Elizabeth B. Brownell (1860-1909), in which prose and poetry texts by 28 authors are illustrated with carefully composed scenes in the style of tableaux vivant, popular in photography of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

In the following sections, works such as African Journey (1945), by anthropologist Eslanda Cardozo Goode Robeson (1895-1965), appear. Part of the "Raising Their Voices" segment, the publication is one of the first books about Africa produced by a Black American researcher – and a success at the time of its release, due to the growing interest of African Americans in African politics and culture during the 1940s, when Pan-Africanists advocated an unbreakable link between the African diaspora and the continent.

In the section “Sisterhood in Bloom,” the photobook Les Tortures volontaires [Voluntary Tortures] (1974), by the French artist Annette Messager (1943), stands out. It is a collection of images cut from magazines and advertisements showing women undergoing various cosmetic procedures or beauty routines, highlighting how women's bodies are a site of violence.

Among the numerous highlights, the public will also be able to see Passion (1989), by Cameroonian photographer Angèle Etoundi Essamba (1962), in the segment “A Global Awakening”. Essamba subverts the stereotypical representations of Black female bodies produced by Western photographers with powerful portraits that highlight pride, strength, and awareness. The selection also includes Hiromix (1998), by Japanese photographer Hiromix (1976), a deeply personal portrait of Japanese youth culture in the 1990s, with photographs starring, for the most part, the author herself, who seeks to capture the youthful beauty, exuberance, and uninhibited pleasures of a young woman's urban experience. Hiromix is ​​in the section “In Search of a Photodemocracy”, which closes the exhibition.

Three Brazilian women were already in the curators' original selection: Claudia Andujar (1931) with Amazônia (1979), a book that documents the period she spent with the Yanomami, photographing their cultural ceremonies, shamanic rites, and traditions; Maureen Bisilliat (1931) is represented by the book A João Guimarães Rosa (1969), in which she photographs the backlands of Minas Gerais inspired by the novel Grande Sertão: Veredas; and Gretta Sarfaty (1947), who broke patterns in the 1970s by satirizing her own image, with Autophotos (1978), bringing together three photographic series by the pioneer of body art and feminism in Brazil.

“But, since we are in Brazil, we thought it would be interesting to slightly expand the number of Brazilian women photographers included in the selection,” says Miguel Del Castillo. “I made a suggestion based on the IMS collection, of important books published during that period.” That's how four more volumes were incorporated into the Brazilian version of the exhibition: Dor (1998), by Vilma Slomp (1952); Quem você pensa que ela é? (1995), by Claudia Jaguaribe (1955); Pinturas e platibandas (1987), by Anna Mariani (1935-2022); and Entre (1974), by Stefania Bril (1922-1992).

The IMS is hosting an exhibition that has already had versions in various formats shown at prestigious institutions around the world, such as the Getty Research Institute in Los Angeles (2025), the Museo Reina Sofía in Madrid (2024), the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (2022), and the New York Public Library (2022). The exhibition catalog (originally titled What They Saw: Historical Photobooks by Women, 1843–1999), authored by the two curators, received the PhotoBook Award for best catalog of the year in 2021, an award given during the Paris Photo fair, and will be available for consultation at the exhibition and for sale at the Livraria da Travessa bookstore in IMS Paulista.

On display until August 2nd, the exhibition invites the public to reflect on the processes of constructing history and the possibilities of constantly rewriting it, as the curators point out: “What they saw sought to include a diverse group of publications illustrated with photographs taken by women. For the history of the photobook to become more inclusive, it is necessary for all people (men, women, non-binary, white, black, Asian, African, Latino, Indigenous, Western, Eastern, etc.) to contribute. We see this reading room on the role of women in the production, dissemination, and authorship of photobooks as a necessary step to unwrite the current history of the photobook and rewrite a history of the photobook that is more equitable and inclusive.”

Service
Exhibition What they saw: historical photobooks of women, 1843-1999
From March 17th to August 02nd
Tuesday to Sunday and holidays (except Mondays), from 10 am to 20 pm.