Advancing Photography with a Children’s Book: Extraordinary Women with Cameras

Moving toward a better photo future…

Although I’m the Tech Photo Guy and often chat about various things with computers and algorithms, sometimes it’s something analog that can set us up for a better photographic future.

I recently had the opportunity to check out a children’s book¹. Extraordinary Women with Cameras: 35 Photographers Who Changed How We See the World is a new book that features the stories of notable photographers, and it’s beautifully illustrated. Keep reading to learn more about it, or check out this conversation I had a couple of weeks ago with both the author and illustrator.

The Future of Photography is in Young Photographers

On its surface: the book lives up to the title. It features short chapters about 35 women in photography. Many of the names are the obvious ones you’d expect (Annie Leibovitz, Dorothea Lange, Vivian Maier). Still, others were names that haven’t reached as much widespread recognition. Author Darcy Reed did a great job pulling together exciting facts about each person featured and did so in a way that’s relatable to a younger audience. Illustrator Vanessa Perez created fun, vibrant images of the photographers and their cameras.

I appreciated an element called “Your Turn” following several chapters. They’re a short challenge to the (child) reader, encouraging them to make observations around them or to create a specific type of photograph. It helps make this an interactive experience rather than a one-way set of instructions or information.

As I publish this in mid-October, we’re approaching the traditional holiday season. I think that Extraordinary Women with Cameras would be a fantastic book to give as a Christmas gift to any child. I’ve sometimes found it challenging to figure out how to pass photography along to my children or niece or other young people. Often that involves an offering of my time to help them learn, or perhaps some sort of gear to foster creativity. But sharing the broader photo world can also help them grow. This book provides a very accessible way for a young person to learn about photography.

You can purchase Extraordinary Women with Cameras: 35 Photographers Who Changed How We See the World through a choice of retailers.

1. I was contacted by the publisher’s PR folks and provided a copy of the book for review. I was not paid, and the publisher had no influence over what I chose to share about the book. ↩