{"id":25707,"date":"2016-07-26T05:45:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T12:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/?p=25707"},"modified":"2020-08-19T08:31:09","modified_gmt":"2020-08-19T15:31:09","slug":"empowering-women-photography","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/","title":{"rendered":"Empowering Women Through Photography"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photography is a dynamic and versatile industry with the ability to shed light on social injustices and inequalities across the globe. Strangely enough, however, in many places, the industry itself is plagued with stereotypes and inequality, particularly when it comes to gender.<\/p>\n

\"Empowering<\/a>
Nazik Armenakyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But don\u2019t just take my word for it. Take it from Nazik Armenakyan<\/a>, \u00a0a documentary photographer based in Yerevan who, alongside colleagues\u00a0Anahit Hayrapetyan<\/a>\u00a0and Anush Babajanyan<\/a>, founded the women\u2019s photography collective 4Plus<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4Plus came about after the trio of\u00a0three strong-minded women forged for themselves, in spite of social barriers, successful careers in documentary photography and later saw the need for a place where women like them could encourage one another and exchange advice, tips and educational resources in an industry in which stereotypes are still working against them.<\/p>\n

\"Empowering<\/a>
4Plus at Tbilisi Photo Festival. Nelli Shishmanyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an interview, Armenakyan\u00a0recalled the beginnings of her career in photography in Armenia: \u201cAt that time, it was really hard, because in society\u2019s imagination, a photographer should be a man with a beard and a big bag and women can\u2019t do this.\u201d She continued, \u201cI started in 2002 and by chance, I came to news photography when there were no women working in that field, only men \u2014 mostly older, like 40 or 50 years old. And it was a very difficult time for me because they could meet me and say, \u2018What did you make today for dinner?\u2019 \u2018Is your son okay?\u2019 \u2018Why are you working? This is not a women\u2019s job.\u2019 And it took a year for them to understand that I am not temporary, I am permanent. And I\u2019m going to make this my profession.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For quite some time, Armenia has been a hub where photography could develop. The country has boasted\u00a0a vibrant journalism scene since independence, and in Soviet times, there was always propaganda photography. But the women of 4Plus recall that it wasn\u2019t until a series of educational courses offered by <\/span>World Press Photo in Yerevan in <\/span>2005, <\/span>led by the late Ruben Mangasaryan, that independent photojournalism started to flourish and transform the photography community \u2014 both by incorporating a higher standard of professionalism, as well as being more inclusive to women.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the course was held by an international organization, the need for more women participants was recognized and the course was able to provided a much-needed outlet for women at a time when professional opportunities were not readily available to them. Babajanyan\u00a0recalls, \u201c<\/span>More women started attending because they were eager and wanted to learn. Now, a lot of the women who graduated those courses are much more professional at documentary photography than a lot of others.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anahit<\/a>
Hayrapetyan is well known for her work capturing powerful glimpses into Armenian society outside of the capital, Yerevan. Anahit Hayrapetyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

All three women who make up 4Plus today are graduates of this course and the emphasis on professionalism in their work is evident. Their independent portfolios are made up of a fruitful list of achievements and accolades, which include a moving photostory by Hayrapetyan on unreported domestic violence against women in Armenia that got picked up by the <\/span>New York Times<\/a>‘ Lens Blog.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"From
From the photo series “From Princess to Slave” by Anahit Hayrapetyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trio is unafraid of undertaking themes typically considered taboo in Armenian society, as can be found in Armenakyan\u2019s\u00a0series of photographs of survivors of the Armenian Genocide, which was featured in the New York Times’ Lens Blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"New
From the photo series “Survivors” by Nazik Armenakyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Or Babajanyan\u2019s <\/span>Inlandish<\/span><\/a>, a touching\u00a0photo series highlighting\u00a0\u201cwomen who separate themselves by dressing differently or wearing bright make up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Anush
This is a piece from Babajanyan’s collection, Inlandish, which features women in Armenia who separate themselves by dressing extravagantly or differently. Anush Babajanyan \/ 4Plus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The group is also responsible for the landmark exhibit\u00a0“mOther Armenia”<\/a>,\u00a0an exhibition named after the nation’s iconic\u00a0Mother Armenia statue, which evokes the sense of feminine pride and strength that the women of\u00a04Plus believe isn’t as prevalent in reality as it should be in Armenian society. The exhibition, held in 2013, featured the work of 10 women photographers.<\/p>\n

Today they\u2019ve established themselves firmly as a liaison between world-renowned media outlets like National Geographic and The New York Times. They host educational seminars and exhibitions; they organize different workshops and lectures with international visiting photographers. All of these events, they say, are open to men, as well \u2014 not just limited to women. But membership in the collective is reserved for women only, as Hayrapetyan says cheekily, “Now, women are deciding. Times are changing.”\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photography is a dynamic and versatile industry with the ability to shed light on social injustices and inequalities across the globe. Strangely enough, however, in many places, the industry itself is plagued with stereotypes and inequality, particularly when it comes to gender. But don\u2019t just take my word for it. Take it from Nazik Armenakyan, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Empowering Women Through Photography”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26973,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_title":"Empowering Women Through Photography","_yoast_wpseo_metadesc":"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.","faq_show":false,"faq_enable_schema":false,"how_to_show":false,"how_to_show_on_single":false,"how_to_enable_schema":false,"how_to_is_upload":false,"faq_title":"","how_to_title":"","how_to_layout":"","how_to_cta_text":"","how_to_cta_url":"","how_to_image_alt":"","how_to_display_image":0,"faq_items":[],"how_to_steps":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669],"tags":[322,32,308,141],"class_list":["post-25707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","tag-armenia","tag-photography","tag-photojournalism","tag-women-photographers","entry"],"acf":{"faq_show":false,"faq_title":"Frequently asked questions","faq_enable_schema":true,"faq_items":null,"how_to_show":false,"how_to_show_on_single":false,"how_to_title":"","how_to_layout":"default","how_to_steps":null,"how_to_enable_schema":true,"how_to_is_upload":true,"how_to_cta_text":"","how_to_cta_url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/create\/editor","how_to_display_image":null,"how_to_image_alt":"","footer_banner_name":"Start your design in Picsart","footer_banner_link_":"\/","footer_banner_button_text_":"Get Started"},"yoast_head":"\nEmpowering Women Through Photography<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Empowering Women Through Photography\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Picsart Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-07-26T12:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-19T15:31:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karine Vann\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@PicsArtStudio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@PicsArtStudio\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karine Vann\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Empowering Women Through Photography","description":"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Empowering Women Through Photography","og_description":"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.","og_url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/","og_site_name":"Picsart Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart","article_published_time":"2016-07-26T12:45:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-19T15:31:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Karine Vann","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@PicsArtStudio","twitter_site":"@PicsArtStudio","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Karine Vann","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/"},"author":{"name":"Karine Vann","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0f27c20e590e11b97d287edf38c240"},"headline":"Empowering Women Through Photography","datePublished":"2016-07-26T12:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T15:31:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/"},"wordCount":821,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","keywords":["armenia","photography","photojournalism","Women Photographers"],"articleSection":["Inspirational"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/","name":"Empowering Women Through Photography","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","datePublished":"2016-07-26T12:45:00+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-19T15:31:09+00:00","description":"We sat down with some women photographers from the 4Plus collective in Armenia to learn about the struggles and rewards of being female in the field.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"From the photo series \"From Princess to Slave\" by Anahit Hayrapetyan \/ 4Plus"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/empowering-women-photography\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Empowering Women Through Photography"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/","name":"Picsart Blog","description":"Keep up with the latest news in photo editing, digital photography, and art trends.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"PicsArt Inc.","url":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/PicsArt-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/02\/PicsArt-logo.png","width":195,"height":43,"caption":"PicsArt Inc."},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/picsart","https:\/\/x.com\/PicsArtStudio","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/picsart","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/picsart-photo-studio","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/picsart"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/4b0f27c20e590e11b97d287edf38c240","name":"Karine Vann","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2021\/04\/user-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2021\/04\/user-avatar.png","caption":"Karine Vann"},"description":"Karine is a Staff Writer at PicsArt Photo Studio. She originally hails from Washington D.C. and currently lives in Yerevan, Armenia. A musician by training, she is also a freelance journalist and graphic designer who is passionate about the arts and the environment (in no particular order).","sameAs":["https:\/\/karine_pa.picsart.com?563749250e751c6a18409cbe","karivann","karinevann"]}]}},"featured_image":{"url":"https:\/\/cdnblog.picsart.com\/2016\/07\/AnahitHayrapetyan.jpg","dimensions":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25707"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38626,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25707\/revisions\/38626"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26973"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/picsart.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}