In this edition of the R29 Photo Album, we're celebrating women both behind and in front of the lens for International Women's Day.
Ahead, we asked female photographers to share one picture of a woman or of multiple women who mean something out of the ordinary to them. In portraits and details, from grandmothers, to mothers, to mentors, to muses, to best friends, wild friends and courageous activists, the results paint a beautiful picture of womanhood today.
Click through the album and read the stories behind each moment and woman you see.
"This is Lydia Pang, my agent. I've chosen this photo as it was the first time we met and she let me put snails on her face. Little did I know that she would soon represent me as an artist and support and teach me. She is a huge inspiration to me, I do not know anyone who works as hard as she does. Forever grateful for her time and energy."
Maisie Cousins
Photographed by Maisie Cousins.
"This is Imani. I took this image on a really cold day with a broken camera. The light leaked in but I kinda like it.
I love Imani because she is radical and strong and never not herself. The amount she has already achieved in her life is testament to how far she is going to go. Imani focuses on resisting racism in all its interweaving forms, with Black Lives Matter UK and the sorryyoufeeluncomfortable Collective. Her voice is her own and you can listen to it here."
Flora Maclean
Photographed by Flora Maclean.
" So that's María, my best friend from university. We've been friends for 10 years.
The first time I talked to María was when I asked her for a pen on our first day of uni in Barcelona. Of course, she hadn't brought one either. That's basically how we became best friends.
I love María because she takes no shit. She would rather be hit by a car than have to stop at a zebra crossing. She takes what belongs to her and fights hard for what doesn't. She is also one of my favourite friends to photograph – she has that raw beauty that is hard to get wrong on camera, really. Some of my first 'real' pictures were portraits of María in bed, and those are still my favourites many years later, like this one, which I recently rediscovered."
Ana Cuba
Photographed by Ana Cuba.
"My mum Hilary is the strongest woman I know. She is fiercely courageous, loving, compassionate and funny. Her incredible energy is recognised by every single person that she meets. She battled cancer with an unparalleled braveness all while caring for me and my sister, and I am endlessly grateful that she is both my friend and my mum. She is my forever role model."
Cassidy Turner
Photographed by Cassidy Turner.
"When Kemi walks into a room, you just kind of know she's someone you want to know. Height and beauty aside, she has a very humble demeanour and a magnetic energy – this is how we ended up shooting together. I used to work with her sister, and Kemi stopped by one day during the summer and I was like, 'Wait! I need to shoot with you!' Happily, she was down. In this shot, with the lighting and shadows of this random, desolate street, there's a great range of elements working harmoniously behind the scenes. This work is super-special to me."
Flo Ngala
Photographed by Flo Ngala.
"Florence, my little sister, one of the strongest and most caring people I know and my closest friend, last summer on our yearly trip to France."
Matilda Hill-Jenkins
Photographed by Matilda Hill-Jenkins.
"My Spanish grandmother's nickname is Ita – for Mamita, meaning 'little mummy'. She is 97 years old and she has an extraordinary life force. She ran away from the Spanish civil war when she was 19 and crossed the French border with her father’s gold watch as her only treasure. Her childhood in Barcelona and life as an immigrant in France have forged her a strong and uncompromising nature. Although life was tough, she has been able to give me her love and encourage me in everything I have ever undertaken. It is a blessing to have a woman of that moral fibre there in my life!"
Julia Genet
Photographed by Julia Genet.
"In this project I wanted to empower women and to portray the strong relation physically through appearance, and emotionally through the positioning of subjects between sisters, and at the same time look into the diversity of women from all backgrounds in life."
Nadine Ijewere
Photographed by Nadine Ijewere.
"We were on a beach in Croatia that day when I saw a lot of people coming completely covered in a black mud and I asked my friend, Luciana, if I could cover her in that and take a picture of it. She smiled and said yes, without a doubt.
While she was posing there for me, many teenagers started whispering to each other. She never paid any attention to it, and kept on smiling and enjoying it all the way until we were done."
Antonella Tignanelli
Photographed by Antonella Tignanelli.
"Marta is one of my best friends, we met at photography school. I've been taking lots of photos of her through the years, when she wanted sexy shots for her boyfriend, during the trips we did together, then when she was pregnant, and now, as a mother."
Martina Giammaria
Photographed by Martina Giammaria.
"Jos and Angelica are best friends. They used to live together but now Jos lives in Mexico City and Angelica lives in Hermosillo, so they are separated but still have an amazing friendship and travel together all the time. They invited me that night to drink wine, smoke weed, eat pizza and dance."
Pia Riverola
Photographed by Pia Riverola.
"I have many great women in my life who are special and inspiring in their own unique way. One of them is Jannica. I often talk about her as my best friend. She is one hell of a woman who will do anything to follow her dreams and will let no one break her balls. I admire that."
Satu Saalola
Photographed by Satu Saalola.
"Camilla, my ex-housemate, friend, inspiring lady and purveyor of beautiful things. Here she is accidentally striking a beautiful pose for me."
Arianna Lago
Photographed by Arianna Lago.
"Valentina and Lola. Valentina is a long-time friend, Lola is her partner. Valentina has been one of my biggest creative supporters. Here we were in Colombia, our home country, enjoying life's basics: nudity, nature and body movement. I go on nudist nature adventures with friends to stay open and grounded and to let our whole being know how grateful we are for our bodies."
Tatiana Camacho
Photographed by Tatiana Camacho.
"One of the many strong, beautiful and inspiring women in my life is my youngest sister, Adriana. I was twelve when she was born and I have had the privilege of watching her grow into her own over the years. She is now 21 and studying industrial design at university, and I am in complete awe of her amazing talent, compassionate nature and fearless independence. She is probably the coolest sister out of the three of us, and has been a muse of mine since I first made her pose for me when she was just my baby sister. Here she is on a recent trip to NYC."
Stephanie Noritz
Photographed by Stephanie Noritz.
"The craziest experiences and happenings in my life happened with these two: Lena and Nadine. I shot these photos on a trip in the US. Once or twice a year, we go on a trip together – a break from reality – and we find comfort and balance in this trio. We are very similar but also accepting of each other's differences. The time we spend together makes me feel like we'll never get too old to explore because we have constant curiosity for life."
Stefanie Moshammer
Photographed by Stefanie Moshammer.
"This is my friend Lita running to the moon in the last days of 2015. At that moment, she didn't know that she wouldn't be able to walk for a big part of 2016. This picture is part of Good Luck With the Future, the project I created with Dani Pujalte and which will be soon a book. And this picture is for Lita, a super-special human being. Good Luck with The Future, Lita."
Rita Puig-Serra
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