Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World

  • Author: Kate Flint

Race, gender, and flash photography

The cover of Flash! shows a smiling African-American woman, who holds a Graflex Speed Graphic camera. The flash bulb, invented at the very end of the 1920s, was rapidly adopted by both professional and amateur photographers. The star of this particular image, however, is less the photographic equipment than the woman who holds it. She signals the intertwined presence of race, gender, and flash photography.

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