As revolutions go, this one got off to a quiet and unassuming start in the early 1970s. It was achieved slowly, one female photographer at a time, each hired by The New York Times for her talent with a camera and her desire to practice the best journalism possible.
The men who hired the first of those women quite likely weren’t thinking about altering the prevailing concepts of photojournalism. But over time, as more women were hired and gained acceptance, they began to push successfully for publication of images that were different, for the truths they saw in people and events, for assignments that had once been denied them and for assignments that had not been envisioned before.
I wish I had been there to see the hiring of Joyce Dopkeen, the first of this talented group to land a staff position, but I did get to work with many of the dynamic women who came after her.
During the few years I was the newspaper’s picture editor, and after, I was lucky enough to be a witness to some of the gradual but potent change they brought. I saw firsthand the difference a more diverse staff made in coverage, saw how the definition of news widened, how tired themes were refreshed and viewpoints shifted, how people who might once have been overlooked became the subjects of compelling photographs.
Each woman contributed in her way, drawing on her background, experiences and interests, which were sometimes akin to those of the other women and sometimes vastly different. So the pictures they produced are as individual as they are.
Because the work of these and other talented women has now been published over the course of many years, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when their styles and choices were startling for the pages of The Times, when pictures were chosen more to illustrate than to expand understanding. Now is our chance to remind ourselves, or to discover, how Times photojournalism changed when women added their strengths. Welcome back to the revolution.
— CAROLYN LEE
Carolyn Lee worked at The New York Times for 25 years. She was the first woman to run the paper’s photo department and later the first woman on the news masthead. She retired in 2003.
Joyce Dopkeen
“It’s one thing if a reporter misses a quote,” . Dopkeen said on a recent visit to The Times, where she was hired as the first female staff photographer and worked at the paper from 1973 to 2008. “They can get a quote from somebody, but if a photographer misses it, that’s all she wrote.”
Teresa Zabala
After joining The Times in 1974, Zabala was posted to the Washington bureau the following year, and she worked there until she left the paper in 1983. Zabala photographed presidents, political campaigns and daily activities on Capitol Hill. She also created and patented a small step ladder for photographers. As she said recently, “You’ve got to see it to photograph it.”
Ruby Washington
The first African-American female staff photographer, . Washington began as a lab technician in the mid-1970s and was soon promoted to staff photographer, shooting for the paper until 2014. Washington passed away in 2018. In an article that year commemorating Washington, her colleague Marilynn K. Yee said: “Being women of color at the paper, we bonded more so than the others. I think we had a special affinity together, and we were both mothers who worked during our pregnancies. I think we were both driven. Being female, I think we had a greater understanding of how to work with people. It showed in her work, where she could get the most flattering photos of people who didn’t feel comfortable with the camera.”
Marilynn K. Yee
In 1977, Yee left California to join The Times, becoming the first female Asian-American staff photographer, and she stayed at the paper for 37 years. Of her female colleagues in the photo department, she said: “I admire them all. Each of us have our strong points and our weak points, but each of us has a certain unique vision that we brought to The New York Times. That’s why they hired us.”
Sara Krulwich
Recalling the challenges of photographing Geraldine Ferraro, Krulwich — who celebrates 40 years at The Times next month — said: “She was short and I was short. The Secret Service agents were tall and completely blocked my view. I always had a ladder on my shoulder because otherwise I would never have been able to see her.”
Michelle V. Agins
Joining The Times from The Charlotte Observer in June 1989, Agins was the paper’s second black female photographer. After years of photographing events such as a 1993 Prince concert at Radio City Music Hall, Agins, who still works at the paper, explained, “You’re always waiting for the next iconic moment that you’ll have the blessing of capturing.”
Andrea Mohin
In summer 1992, Andrea Mohin shot her first dance assignment, photographing classes at the School of American Ballet. Earlier that year, she had become the seventh female staff photographer at The New York Times. Previously she was shooting politics freelance and working as a photo lab printer for the paper in Washington. The transition from politics to dance was more organic than jarring. “I danced and went to ballet class as a kid,” she said. “So I have that choreographic vocabulary in my head. If I’m watching a dance piece being performed, I’m counting in my head, going along with the music, and I know the right moment to shoot. All these years later, it has come together, my love of dance and my photography.” She still photographs dance for the paper today.
Suzanne DeChillo
“As a newer photographer with little seniority, I worked every Sunday,” DeChillo explained recently. “There was no hard news on Mother’s Day, no crime, maybe one parade, and no news conferences to cover. The assignment was Mother’s Day. A mellow spring day in parks across America filled with families celebrating mom. I walked into a park on the Hudson River, and there on a picnic blanket was Willie Cole brushing his mother’s hair with such love, a gift to his mother, Evanda.” On other occasions, photo shoots led to unexpected conversations. “Leonard Cohen and I traded stories about our respective experiences at Zen monasteries, the actress Jeanne Moreau gave me her recipe for Irish stew,” she recalled.
Nancy Siesel
“I didn’t have a specific beat,” Siesel, who started at The Times in 1992, recently recalled. “I loved that you never knew what you were going to be doing. Some people like having their life planned, and it’s never like that when covering news.” Her work was concerned with documenting change. She was amazed by the way squatters were able to live and even thrive under such difficult circumstances, like homesteading. “It was a difficult life for them, and they were standing up to the forces of gentrification,” she said.
Monica Almeida
Working on staff at The Times from 1992 to 2016, Almeida relished the randomness of assignments. “I love the variety and contrast of moving in and out of different worlds, from navigating through huge crowds at major news events to long road trips, driving through desolate landscapes — always hunting for interesting pictures in any situation.”
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.