Patriarchal pits: the gendered experiences of female concert photographers

ABSTRACT

While the presence of women in photojournalism is increasing, the way they are treated by their male counterparts remains unbalanced. Drawing from feminist theory and embodiment, this study examines how the gendered experience plays out for women in a particular niche of photojournalism; concert photography. The restricted access of the music scene and the embodied nature of photojournalism combine to present unique barriers for women. In-depth interviews with male and female concert photographers show women still face a form of patriarchal oppression in the field. This is seen through gendered language, such as ‘one of the guys’ versus a ‘mom in the pit’, embodied actions such as direct sexual harassment or indirect benevolent sexism, and in how women are questioned when they identify themselves as a photographer.

KEYWORDS:

• Photojournalism
• concert photography
• embodiment
• feminist theory

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to thank Mary Angela Bock for her guidance in this project over several semesters, the anonymous reviewers at this journal and from the Feminist Scholarship Division of the International Communication Association for their helpful and constructive feedback, and the female and male concert photographers who generously provided time and candor in the interviews.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Kyser Lough

Dr. Lough is an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Georgia, where he researches visual communication and solutions journalism. Broadly, he hopes to advance the field of visual journalism by incorporating it into professional, academic and pedagogical spaces through his teaching and research.

He uses both qualitative and quantitative inquiry to explore questions of power, access and boundaries. Within visual communication, he studies how news images are made, selected and interpreted, as well as the photographers themselves in how they define and operate within their field as they fight for legitimacy and job security.

His solutions journalism work investigates how it is conceptualized/created, audience effects and the interplay of words and images. Solution-oriented journalism, a growing field of interest within journalism studies, highlights social progress in a community, which often doesn’t get the same amount of attention as conflict.