October 21, 2026 - March 7, 2027
In the 1970s, Martine Franck (1938-2012) photographed feminist struggles, primarily in Paris. As a woman photographer, the attention she paid to the mobilizations of the Mouvement de libération des femmes (MLF) shaped her outlook on the social world and would durably orient her body of work.
The question of images became central to feminist struggles in reaction to media representations within a dominant visual culture, one that objectified women’s bodies and could distort or discredit their demands. As a founding member of the Viva agency (1972), Martine Franck shared this vigilance toward images. Viva was conceived as a “refuge for photographers who understand the reach of the image, know its informative power, refuse the uses that could be made of it, and do not want to escape their social reality.”
This exhibition presents largely unpublished photographs that highlight the collective dimension of a feminist visual culture in the 1970s. This is expressed through the depiction of mobilizations, but also through the rise of the feminist press, which became a laboratory for these struggles. Periodicals also served as a privileged medium for the circulation of images.
From the 1980s onward, feminism became institutionalized, and Martine Franck produced the series “Des femmes et la création” [Women and Creation] and later “Des métiers et des femmes” [Jobs and Women] as part of public commissions. Her relationship to feminism gradually became more individual, but remained a defining force in her work.
Curator of the exhibition
Angèle Ferrere
PhD in History and Aesthetics of Photography
Recipient of the 2025 Martine Franck Curatorial Research Grant
Sponsor
The Martine Franck Curatorial Research Grant is supported by the Linklaters Foundation.
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