A Century in Focus: Images from Women Photographers of the 20th Century

Photography changed how the twentieth century saw itself. So did the women who mastered it. Working through decades of upheaval, war, depression, migration, and rapid industrial change, the ten artists in this exhibition at the Hilliard Art Museum pushed photography past pure documentation and made it an art form. Each found a different way in. Dorothea Lange and Sabine Weiss turned photojournalism toward the hardships of ordinary life. Anne W. Brigman and Ruth Bernhard leaned into experiment and abstraction. Together they produced some of the most enduring images of the modern era. The practices of these artists challenged narratives long controlled by men and opened the medium to the women who came after. It shaped how we picture identity, family, memory, and struggle, and it still speaks to those questions now. Drawn entirely from the Hilliard's permanent collection, these photographs trace a century in focus. On display through February 20, 2027. hilliardartmuseum.org.