Fox Talbot‘s Cameras Lacock Abbey by Catharine Weed Barnes Ward

c.1892 / Gelatin silver negative / 7″x5″ / George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY

[There are four embedded links above]

As the nineteenth century drew to a close, Catharine Weed Barnes Ward had established herself as a tireless champion of women photographers. Photography had been long regarded as an exclusive ‘men only’ profession, and some male society and club members threatened to resign if women were granted admittance. Mrs. Ward fired back that these societies should offer women “a fair field and no favor,” and that photography should ultimately be judged by the quality of the work and not the gender of the photographer. ~ http://historiccamera.com/