Firecrackers: Female Photographers Now

A panel discussion with Fiona Rogers, founder of the Firecracker project and co-author of Firecrackers: Female Photographers Now (Thames & Hudson, 2017), on the most inquisitive, intelligent, and daring photography being created by female photographers working today. Rogers founded Firecracker in 2011 to support female photographers worldwide by showcasing their work. Building upon Firecracker's foundations, the newly released book brings together photography that encompasses an eclectic variety of styles, techniques, and locations, from Alma Haser's futuristic series of portraits that use origami to create 3D sculptures within the frame to Laura El-Tantawy's filmic and intensely personal series on political protest in Cairo. There is a recurring theme throughout the book that serves to unite these extraordinary women and their work: the exploration of marginalized individuals and under-discussed subjects, seen by fresh eyes.

Photographers Cemre Yesil and Diana Markosian, who have work featured in the book, join Rogers in conversation.

Bios

Cemre Yesil is a Turkish photographer living in Istanbul. She has a BA in photography and an MA in visual arts from Sabanci University in Istanbul. She is currently a practice-based PhD student at the London College of Communication. Her work has been exhibited and published internationally. She was nominated for the Foam Paul Huf Award in 2014, the ING Unseen Talent Award in 2016, and Lead Awards in 2016. In 2015 the British Journal of Photography listed Yesil as one of the twenty-five most promising new talents in a global survey of emerging photographers for her work For Birds’ Sake. A selection from her An/Other series is in the Istanbul Modern Art Museum’s photography collection.

Diana Markosian is an Armenian-American artist whose images explore the relationship between memory and place. Born in the former Soviet Union, her family immigrated to the US when she was a child, leaving her father behind. In 2010, she received her MA from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. Her work has since taken her to some of the most remote corners of the world, where she has produced both personal and editorial work. Her images can be found in publications such as National Geographic Magazine, the New Yorker, and the New York Times. She became a Magnum nominee in 2016.

Fiona Rogers is the global business development manager at Magnum Photos International. She is also the founder of Firecracker, a platform supporting female photographers, and recently co-authored a book with curator Max Houghton, Firecrackers: Female Photographers Now, celebrating women working in this medium. She has participated as a judge for several notable competitions, including the Mack First Book Award and the Getty Images Grant for Editorial Photography.