[fionaB]

ok heres a quesiton up for discussion,................

what do people think is the reason that more men than women are into photography, i do not mean on a "fame" scale as we all know there are some superb well knows male and female photographers.
i am talking more on a hobbiest scale. on most if not all of the forums i have been/am a member of there is undoubtably a higher ratio of men to women, or is this just down to women not posting as much.
when im out and about i often see men with their cameras/tripods etc, but rarely see women with anything other than a wee compact p/s taking the pic using their LCD.

what do we think the reasons for this are and is photography predominantly seen as a "male" hobby.

i was at Crossragual Abbey during the summer and struck up a conversattion with the curator there when he saw my camera,...... he asked a few questions which i answered and then he said " its nice to see a women actually utilising the camera she has"
Rare for me i know but i didint actually know what to say to this. having been on the receiving end of an "anti female photographer" guy once ( remember Rob?) I am beginning to wonder if he was as alone in his thinking as i thought he was?

discuss.........................

Fiona

[Dabhand16]

One of the things I think most people would agree with is that in general women are less interested in cars/computers/cameras/gadgets in themselves, and are more interested in what they do rather than how they do it.

I'm not saying they don't use them, just that they don't find the need to understand them, so in order to take a picture, a point and shoot will do the job, so why bother with lugging a larger more complex camera around? Any car will get you from A to B, so why would anyone want to own a Golf GTi when a Kia will do the job?

Again in general most men tend to know sometihing of the technology behind whatever it is they are using, and are more likely to want sometihing that is percieved to give an advantage in one or more areas of use. For instance, to be able to take pictures in less than ideal situations, and come out with a result that a point and shoot could not get, or to drive a car that has better brakes or sharper accelleration.

Have I just solved the oldest problem the world has ever known?

[fionaB]

not sure if you have solved it but you have certainly given food for thought!

Fiona

[bob]

ok i agree mostly with dabhand but lets be honest here fellas, its a good excuse to pick up camera, take dog for a really long walk, look for something interesting to photograph. infact anything to avoid doing all the jobs she needs us to do, like cleaning windows, fixing wobbly shelves, washing her car,decorating........ and all the other "little" jobs she may have for us. you know, all the things we put off until tomorrow.

[Angela]

Again, in general, women have less time for hobbies perhaps. They work, run the house, ferry the kids around, do the shopping.

Fiona and I, and the other female members here are perhaps not "general"..I certainly want a car that does more than get me from A to B!! Luckily, I don't have children and the housework and shopping can go take a running jump if there's a good opportunity for taking some photos somewhere and, because I don't have too many other responsibilities (apart from work and my charity work) I can choose to go out with the camera where and when I want.

[LadyStardust]

Interesting point Fiona. I work in IT so perhaps my photography interest is fuelled by an already existing personal interest in technology - and in the IT arena, there are not too many women either.

In fact, now that I think about it, the friends at work that I discuss photography with are male, and also friends out of work too - except at my C&G course, where there are six women and six men on the course, which makes for a nice balance. It does make a pleasant change to talk about lenses, apertures and such like with a female for a change!

I'll be interested to hear what others have to say...

[fionaB]

to be honest i see your point Angela. to a point, but i have work, i have a family and i have a house to run etc, yet i still find more than enough time for photography............ i think thats a cop out. bUT on the other hand, maybe its like you say and we and the other female photographers here are just not in the "general" group! lol..
now im not sure at all what that says about us!

Lady Stardust, i know what you mean, however as i dont know anyone else near me male or female who is into photography, for the majority of the time all i have are the friends i have made on here to talk about it with.!

Fi

[Markulous]

And I'm not entirely convinced by the techie argument. I know at least one woman who never takes her camera off Auto yet takes some blindingly good shots (admittedly blessed by good lighting and a ready supply of brightly coloured subject, so not really testing the camera).

Wonder to what extent the "loner factor" has to play! After all, photography can be very time consuming and anti-social (to the average non 'tog). I'm very lucky in that I can usually find someone to bully into accompanying me if I feel the need for company!

[Whipspeed]

Have to say most of my female friends and relatives are just not interested in gadgets & fiddling about with things, just want point & shoot & don't want to know how things work, only very few of them like me enjoy technology. Maybe it was my Grandad who's idea of playing was to give me some tools to take something apart & put it back together.

Again, I have husband, child & three dogs & house to run, but make time for my photography.

ie this afternoon, rugby pics from weekend to add to website, 5 ordered photo's to print & 6 photo's to mount & frame for craft fair. I've been to work, done the accounts for the local photo club & have got to get son new shoes! Arrrggggh!

[Tigress]

I have to say, most of my female friends aren't in the "in general" group either; most know more about cars/computers/cameras/gadgets than the men I know.

I take every opportunity I can to go out photographing, usually a couple of days at a time, and make sure I carry my own rucksack and tripod, despite offers to do it for me! I have also seen just as many men with point and shoot cameras as women!

[Rob Barron]

I definitely want to scotch bob's idea, very caricatured IMO. My wife does not have me chained to the house, nor does she give me a list of chores with the heading 'Or else!'

I think photography has always been something men have enjoyed more but there is no single reason for it. I can list a few that come to mind:

In the modern world, cameras have become highly technical BUT they are also very simple to use. For a lot of women, the sight of all those buttons makes it a 'boy's toy'. My wife will take pictures with her compact but not with my DSLR despite the fact she has to exactly the same thing, point the camera and slowly press the button!

Although it has 'traditionally' been a male-dominated field, men have often guarded it rather than helped women to embrace this wonderful hobby.

In today's photography, there is a natural hook up between the camera and the computer, an area where women have traditionally shied away from, perhaps again because we men love to make it all sound so complicated so they will think we are clever! Sorry guys, we're no cleverer than they are!!!

Photography is very definitely a uni-task, something that requires a very focused attitude as opposed to the spacial awareness that women's brains are so much better at. Without any doubt, we have differently wired brains, that much is proven beyond reasonable doubt: not in the cliched ways that encourage sexism but in the scientific sense that shows that the different genders both approach things differently and naturally enjoy things that are aligned to their way of thinking.

Women often make fantastic photographers but let's face it men, we love our toys and we go out and buy a fancy DSLR and a lovely L series lens but then get all precious about it. We don't want our wives and partners to have a go because they might like it and they might end up better than us at it! We would not go out and buy them a DSLR with all the gear that we have because we want to be one-up!

My wife never bothered with photography but has started getting into it because she came to the point of 'if you can't beat him, join him' and I bought her a decent compact to try. She loves listening to my ideas on composition and then going and trying them out for herself. She is becoming very good now and we see it as something we love to do together, not something we are in a competition about!

Thank goodness Pixalo has some excellent women photographers on here like Fiona, Angela, Leanne, Charlotte and so forth and I like to think that they are staying here because they are welcomed and treated for what they are: equals in every sense of the word.

Cheers,
Rob

[fionaB]

well, some definately differeint view points here..... i do agree with the uni thinking explanation rob, however if we are being ocmpletely honest i would probably say that in certain cases Bob's explanation isnt too far from the mark on occasion as well, and i do talk in general here! lol

Fiona