Anita Corbin ‘100 First Women Portraits’ (2020) – Exhibition Reflection

Brighton Museum is a small museum based in the centre of town and known for its artefacts and general historical exhibitions. I was excited to see they were putting a photographic exhibition on, especially with the focus on women by a woman. Anita Corbin decided to photograph women who had become the first to do something, whether it be an occupation, an award etc. The collection of firsts varied greatly and the curation and mix of images illustrated the equal view that Corbin took on these roles and achievements, that they all mattered and deserved recognition. The choice to place the first women to be a surrogate mother next to, say, the first woman to be a speaker in the house of commons, tells of a necessity for both jobs and a celebration of all that women do. It’s an important exhibition that I think everyone needs to see to understand the leaps and bounds that we have made over the past few decades trying to catch up with our counterparts.

The images were split between three rooms, in order to accommodate all 100. They were placed side by side at an equal level on all walls, except for the last room where some images were placed in a less formal order at varying heights, which I think was done for space. I think the size of the prints were perfect and as you can see above, when the light came through from the roof, the room was lit in such a natural and beautiful way, it almost emphasised the quality of the women and their persistent strength.

I think this choice of presentation, having them all evenly placed, works well for this exhibition but for myself I would choose something less formal. I would perhaps like to place images above and below, to overwhelm viewers of the sheer amount of women and their achievements and to illustrate that we are here. I think the choice of black frame does fit well with all the images though as they all have darker coloured elements, more so than brighter. From the exhibition I have decided that larger prints in my style of work are better for an exhibition space, they allow viewers to see more in the images and make an impact on the space.