Review: "What We See" edited by Daniella Zalcman and Sara Ickow

What We See edited by Daniella Zalcman and Sara Ickow
Published March 2023 via White Lion Publishing
★★★★

"For as long as photojournalism has existed as a discipline," writes Daniella Zalcman in the introduction, one "built around broadening perspectives – the industry has been dominated by white Western men" (6). What We See is a response to that, a collection of moments big and small captured by women and nonbinary photographers. Broken into four sections—Identity, Place, Conflict, and Reclamation—the book contains some images you might recognize, that went viral or won major awards, and others that are quieter but ask you to lean in, to look closer.

There are some true gems in here. I particularly loved Xyza Cruz Bacani's "Family Bonding" (18); Gillian Laub's "Grandma's Kitchen" (23); Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen's "Días Eternos" (24); Rena Effendi's "Day of the dead celebration" (78); JEB's "Three in a Tub" (106); Tracy Barbutes' "Smoldering" (116); Koral Carballo's "Yoel's Wishes" (186); Charlotte Schmitz's "La Puente" (190); and Mariceu Erthal García's "Waves of the Sea" (192), but there are many many more images that I'd love to hang prints of, or just to read longer articles on their background and symbolism and broader context. (I am also, predictably, drawn to portraits and candid moments—but happily for me, there are many of both throughout the book.)

Each photograph is accompanied by approximately 200 words of text from the photographer—in some cases context for the image, in some cases background on the broader project that the image is part of, in some cases discussions of themes of the sort that you might read in a gallery pamphlet. The words are a bit hit or miss for me (I prefer context and am not fond of abstract gallery descriptions), but it does feel like just the right amount of text to tell you more while keeping the focus on the photographs. I'm going to have to go back through the book more than once, I think, to examine the photographs more closely and to look up some of the photographers.

This is the first book from Women Photograph, and I'm very curious about what themes they might pick for future books—"not cis men" is a huge departure from the voices that are so often the loudest, but it's also very very broad.

Thanks to the curators and publisher for providing a review copy through NetGalley.