Soldiers and Suffragettes: The Photography of Christina Broom

In 1903 a self-taught novice photographer, Christina Broom, turned to photography as a business venture to support her family; from this modest beginning she was to emerge as Britain’s acknowledged pioneer woman press photographer. Unconventionally for women photographers of the time she took her camera to the streets and recorded arresting and historically important images of Suffragettes, sporting events, royal occasions and World War I soldiers and developed a significant enterprise in picture postcards which she published from her home in Fulham, London, till her death in 1939.Despite her camera’s presence at many significant historical events and her importance to press photography her achievements have, to date, been underappreciated; this, the first publication on her life and work redresses the neglect and also illuminates the vital role of her dedicated assistant and daughter, Winifred, without whom Broom’s substantial contribution to photography might have been lost.The book showcases Broom’s remarkable work celebrating her personal journey, approach and skill through many rich photographs, drawn from the Museum of London’s fine collection of her plate glass negatives and prints which reflect her visual style and spectrum of subjects. Essays from four women who have engaged closely with her work for several years explore and contextualise her imagery and reveal the compelling story of the women behind the lens.The book accompanies the exhibition Soldiers & Suffragettes: the photography of Christina Broom at Museum of London Docklands.