--- description: Explore the powerful photographs of 34 women from across the globe. title: The 34 Female Photographers You Should Follow Right Now image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) ## LightBox Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Women in Photography: 34 Voices From Around the World by [Katherine Pomerantz](/author/katherine-pomerantz/) and [Kira Pollack](/author/kira-pollack/) Mar 6, 2017 4:16 PM CUT by [Katherine Pomerantz](/author/katherine-pomerantz/) and [Kira Pollack](/author/kira-pollack/) Mar 6, 2017 4:16 PM CUT As one of this year’s jurors for World Press Photo, I was stunned to learn that over the last ten years, the number of female entrants to the World Press Photo Contest has hovered around 15% (it remained at 15.5% in 2017). March is Women’s History Month and in the current political and social climate, it’s never been more critical for us to have a woman’s visual perspective. TIME reached out globally to the most acclaimed female photojournalists, curators and directors of photography in the industry, asking them to select one female photojournalist that they believe is worthy of recognition. The result is an astonishing collection of brilliant work from around the world. For me, this list includes many photojournalists I have never known, was delighted to learn about and excited to get to know more. Here’s their list of 34 women photographers to follow right now. _– Kira Pollack, Director of Photography_ ### Meridith Kohut (Venezuela)  BARQUISIMETO, VENEZUELA - AUGUST 25, 2016: Schizophrenic patient, Omar Mendoza is badly malnourished, and only weighs 35 kilos. His weight dropped to 32 kg in June, but the nursing staff have been feeding him as many extra portions as they can spare to help him gain weight. Over half of male patients at El Pampero are underweight. The economic crisis that has left Venezuela with little hard currency has also severely affected its public health system, crippling hospitals like El Pampero Psychiatric Hospital by leaving it without the resources it needs to take care of patients living there, the majority of whom have been abandoned by their families and rely completely on the state to meet their basic needs. The hospital has not employed a psychiatrist for over two years. The halls are filled with sounds of patients crying or screaming, and an overpowering stench of urine and feces. There is a shortage of food, and drugs used to combat bipolar disorder, epilepsy, schizoaffective disorder and chronic anxiety are now in short supply, as are numerous sedatives and tranquilizers needed to care for patients. PHOTO: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times NYTCREDIT: Meridith Kohut for The New York Times Meridith Kohut ### Émilie Régnier (Canada/Haiti, based in Paris)  Émilie Regnier ### Meeri Koutaniemi (Finland)  Nasirian is crying during the starting of the circumcision. Meeri Koutaniemi ### Nichole Sobecki (U.S., based in Kenya)  Nichole Sobecki ### Johanna Maria Fritz (Germany)  Johanna Maria Fritz ### Cate Dingley (U.S.)  Cate Dingley ### Cécile Baudier (Denmark)  Yaymi on the prairie Cecile Baudier ### Tshepiso Mazibuko (South Africa)  Tshepiso Mazibuko ### Kirsty Mackay (U.K.)  Kirsty Mackay—INSTITUTE ### Luisa Dörr (Brazil)  Maria Vitoria (8) attends the Christian Congregation of Brazilil since birth. She dreams of being organist; like her mother. In Christian Congregation of Brazil women can not play any instrument besides the organ; and there is only one organ in every church. Sometimes they wait several months to play the instrument. Cohaab; Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil; Date: 12/07/2016 ; ©luisadörr Luisa Dörr ### Adriana Loureiro Fernandez (Venezuela, based in the U.S.)  Adriana Loureiro Fernandez Adriana L. Fernandez ### Nazik Armenakyan (Armenia)  Nazik Armenakyan ### Vittoria Mentasti (Italy)  Vittoria Mentasti ### Mahin Mohammadzadeh (Iran)  Mahin Mohammadzadeh ### Ashima Narain (India)  Ashima Narain ### Charlotte Schmitz (Germany, based in Turkey)  Charlotte Schmitz ### Justyna Mielnikiewicz (Georgia/Poland)  In a bus during Christmas carnival, weeks before presidential elections. Tbilisi. 2008 Justyna Mielnikiewicz ### Melissa Spitz (U.S.)  Melissa Spitz ### Nadia Bseiso (Jordan)  Nadia Bseiso ### Monique Jaques (U.S./Brazil, based in Turkey)  ### Marta Iwanek (Canada)  Snezhana Pusova, 15 poses for a photo in her classroom at the Internat in Raivka, Ukraine on September 8, 2016\. ItÕs her last year in school and she dreams of a crimson dress she will wear for her graduation ball. When she was 9 years old, her mother went to jail, so Pusova and her brothers lived with her grandmother. When she turned 15, her mother was released. ÒI believe everything will be good now,Ó she says. ÒIt wonÕt be like before.Ó She adds, ÒShe did everything for us so we could be proud of her. She takes care of us now.Ó The 'Internat' is a boarding school built during the Soviet era, which also served as an orphanage. As the population in rural areas decreases, more schools are closing or amalgamating. Raivka Internat still acts as an orphanage for two children, about half use it as a boarding school and the rest go home to their families every night. When she graduates, Pusova wants to go study to be a florist or a chef. Marta Iwanek ### Tatiana Plotnikova (Russia)  11-12-2010, Yamal peninsula, Russia. The Far North (Russia). A small fawn running in the middle of herd. The abattoir near Labytnangi city. In the end of each year reindeer-breeders carry out the slaughtering of reindeers to get winter stock of meat, make new warm cloths and to have some money to buy snowmobiles and portable generators. They run their herds hundreds kilometres to slaughterhouse to count and select animals. Slaughtering season is up to one month depending on the number of reindeers. It takes 5 or 6 days to deal with a 2,000 animal herd. The whole process hasnÕt changed for hundreds years: 15-20 reindeers are penned one by one and breeders decide the death and life dilemma for the animalsÉ Blood on the snow, body pieces and animal skinsÉ Smell of death over this ÒNorth corridaÓ throws reindeers into horror and rage. Sometimes breeders leave the place with their broken ribs, hands or legs like matadors. No matter how dangerous and heavy this job is the atmosphere of savage and revelry reigns over the place. From ongoing project "The North Corrida": http://www.tatianaplotnikova.com/north-corrida Tatiana Plotnikova ### Danielle Villasana (U.S., based in Turkey)  Danielle Villasana ### Lara Aburamadan (Palestinian Territories, based in the U.S.)  Lara Aburamadan ### Maja Hitij (Slovenia, based in Germany)  Maja Hitij ### Fatemeh Behboudi (Iran)  Fatemeh Behboudi ### Alice Martins (Brazil, based in Iraq)  Qayyarah, Iraq, October 20, 2016: Three brothers executed by Islamic State militants are buried at the Qayyarah graveyard. Their bodies were found when Iraqi forces entered the town of Hod, while militants fled taking with them civilian hostages to be used as human shields further north as Iraqi Security Forces advanced towards the city of Mosul. Alice Martins ### Tamara Abdul Hadi (Iraq, based in Lebanon)  Tamara Abdul Hadi ### Isabella Lanave (Brazil)  ### Farzana Wahidy (Afghanistan)  An Afghan woman gets ready to go out in Kabul, Afghanistan, 2009\. Photo by Farzana Wahidy Farzana Wahidy ### Marina Мakovetskaya (Russia)  Marina Мakovetskaya Marina Makovetskaya ### Mónica González (Mexico)  Mónica González ### Maria Turchenkova (Russia)  The head of Lenin in the forest. From the project "The Roads of Revolution" ©Maria Turchenkova&Stanley Greene Maria Turchenkova ### Violeta Santos-Moura (Portugal)  Violeta Santos-Moura _Post produced by Katherine Pomerantz_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4671986/women-photographers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4671986/women-photographers/"},"headline":"Women in Photography: 34 Voices From Around the World","datePublished":"2017-03-06T16:16:55.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:39:35.266Z","description":"34 experts select the women photographers that are impacting photography today","url":"https://time.com/4671986/women-photographers/","keywords":["LightBox","women","photography","female","Photojournalism"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katherine Pomerantz","jobTitle":"Pomerantz is the director of photography at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/katherine-pomerantz/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Kira Pollack","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/kira-pollack/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4671986/women-photographers/","name":"Women in Photography: 34 Voices From Around the World"}}]}] ```