Extraordinary Women
Typical warzone coverage has two focuses. The fighters, predominantly young men; and the victims - everyone else. This book calls this familiar narrative into question. Without glamorising or sanitising the harsh realities of our world, it presents the endurance and iron will of women in situations of war, poverty and hardship.
Throughout his career, award winning photographer Tom Stoddart has shown us the remarkable resilience of all sorts of people from across the world.
With Extraordinary Women, he hones his focus on the female perspective. His photojournalistic approach travels through the recent decades, with images displaying courage and freedom, the working lives of everyday women and the frontline of war.
His photojournalistic approach travels through the recent decades, with images displaying courage and freedom, the working lives of everyday women and the frontline of war. Each photo serves as a testament to the agency and strength of those who are so often portrayed as vulnerable and helpless.
Tom Stoddart has built a reputation for compelling work, and this collection is especially remarkable for its uncompromising celebration of humanity.
ACC Art Books.
iWITNESS
“Tom Stoddart is a member of the very select club of great photographers. There is no shortage of photojournalists out there who bear witness to events around the world. Thank goodness for that! But then there is an altogether smaller group of photojournalists like Tom who, no matter what situation they are confronted with, bring a special talent to their role as witness.
There are indeed images that show stark and violent events, but the pictures themselves are not hard to view, and it is the situations in them, whether man-made or the work of nature, which we respond to.
So, we could ask ourselves what the whole point of all this actually is. Cynics will always question the need for such pictures, and it is of course naïve to say that photojournalism can change the world. However, it cannot be denied that there are pictures or photo essays that have profoundly influenced our perception of ‘what really happened’ at certain world events.”
Jean-Francois Leroy - iWITNESS
“It is sad and unnecessary that any of these photographs exist.
Most of the events chronicled here can be attributed directly to mankind’s greed, intolerance, prejudice, inhumanity, lust for political power, and sheer stupidity. The siege of Sarajevo, ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, famine in Sudan, AIDS in Africa, devastated post 9/11 New Yorkers – generations of lives needlessly wasted.
The people portrayed in the preceding pages are heroes. Real heroes, unlike those shallow icons from the worlds of cinema, fashion, or football, so carefully manufactured to sell movies, newspapers, cars, and sunglasses.
Innocent people trapped and battered by circumstances beyond their control. Ordinary humans in extraordinary situations, displaying immense courage, sacrifice, dignity, and the determination to survive what has befallen them and their loved ones. So don’t feel sorry when you look at these pictures – feel angry that we need to be reminded of such folly.
It is sad but necessary that these photographs exist.”
Tom Stoddart - iWITNESS