Women Behind the Shutter: Exploring the Place of Women in Elite Environmental Conservation Photographer Networks

Abstract

Since the 1980s, much has been written about the importance of including women in environmental decision making. However, when and how women are included remains an issue. The goal of this article was to explore how the historical exclusion of women from the production of conservation visual narratives continues to have an influence on conservation networks. We surveyed 121 National Geographic Society-affiliated conservation/wildlife photographers, which produced a usable sample of 98 photographers, to assess whether there is evidence of the historical legacy of female exclusion in contemporary elite conservation photography networks. Using network analysis, we find a strong network among 67 conservation photographers, with eight subgroups. Our analysis shows that there are formal networks among conservation photographers, but these networks are sparsely populated with women. Of the women who are present, they mostly engage in the same subnetworks. Our findings provide evidence to support the notion that the historical exclusion of women from the production of visual conservation narratives has had a lasting impact on the network of conservation image producers, which may influence the way conservation is depicted to the general public. We situate our findings using gendered organizational theory.