Articles

Feminism’s ‘Official Photographer:’ Bettye Lane, News Photography, and Contemporary Feminism, 1970-1990

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Abstract

This essay analyses New York City freelancer Bettye Lane’s photographs of U.S. feminism and gay rights in the twentieth century’s last three decades. Her archive, housed at universities, public libraries, and lesbian collectives indicate her awareness of photojournalism’s role in documenting social movements, and in establishing a counterpublic across time and space in alternative spaces such as the Lesbian Herstory Archives and in mainstream institutions such as the Library of Congress. Lane’s photojournalistic aesthetic appeared traditional, but the essay argues she allowed her subjects to collaborate with her in imbuing the photographs with meaning. She contributed to a feminist counterpublic established with feminist audiences, and also a network of feminist editors, archivists, and non-profit leaders.  This essay is based on photographs and papers archived at the Lesbian Herstory Archives, Duke University’s Rubenstein Library, and Harvard University’s Schlesinger Library.

Keywords: Bettye Lane, photojournalism, photography, feminism, lesbianism, women’s rights

How to Cite:

Quirke, C. L., (2025) “Feminism’s ‘Official Photographer:’ Bettye Lane, News Photography, and Contemporary Feminism, 1970-1990”, DiGeSt - Journal of Diversity and Gender Studies 12(2), 85-106. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/digest.90435