Feminism, friendship and photography.

Veronica (Vee) Moon’s passion for photography started when she was seven years old, a bridesmaid at a cousin’s wedding. Fascinated on the day by what was happening beneath the cloth the photographer was hiding under, when she subsequently heard relatives reminiscing about the day whenever they looked through the album, she realised how important photographs are in enabling people to relive a particular moment in time. From that moment she wanted a camera of her own, finally fulfilling this dream when, aged fifteen, she bought one for herself. As she couldn’t afford to have her films developed, she created a makeshift darkroom under the stairs and learnt how to do it for herself, marvelling at the alchemy of the process, and her ability to manipulate it. When she started work as a junior photographer at the “Colchester Echo”, she was delighted. However, although she knew she was capable of producing good work, she realised that she would never be sent on any interesting assignments but instead would be restricted to taking photographs at minor charity events, coffee mornings etc because her male colleagues saw her interest in photography as a hobby.
However, all this changed in June 1968. Fascinated by news coverage of the women machinists whose walkout, in protest at being paid less than their male counterparts, had brought production at the Ford Dagenham factory to a halt, when her editor refused his permission for her to attend in an official capacity, she decided to use her day off to visit the picket line and take photographs. Her fiancé, Barry, thought it was a “funny thing to do” on her day off, but little did he realise that what she discovered that day would lead to her breaking off their engagement and changing the direction of her life. It was there that she met not only the striking workers, but also Leonie Barratt, a passionate, angry activist who was determined to fight for equality and to use every opportunity to challenge the status quo. Leonie took the naïve Vee under her wing and her inclusion of one of Vee’s picket-line photographs, to accompany an article appearing in “This Month” magazine, led to Vee’s work getting its first exposure in the UK press. The friendship which quickly developed between them led to Vee breaking off her engagement, moving to London to live with Leonie, becoming more involved in the ongoing fight to achieve equal rights for women and pursuing a very successful career in photography.
The story starts in 2018: Leonie is dead, and Vee, now seventy, is suffering with a degenerative health problem and living a reclusive life. Although for decades she had been regarded as a pioneer for change, heralded as one of the most accomplished photographers of the twentieth century, a photograph taken more than thirty years earlier provoked such controversy and criticism that it immediately marked the end of her career. It is that image which is to be the centrepiece of an upcoming exhibition. Entitled “Women in their Power: Veronica Moon and Second Wave Feminism”, it is a project close to the heart of Leonie’s niece, Erica. Her discovery of a box of her aunt’s papers and photographs revealed a link between a woman who had been a feminist way ahead of her time, and a photographer who had retreated from the public eye. Erica becomes determined to rescue both these women from obscurity and, in doing so, hopes to kick-start her own career, which had faltered in the face of competing family demands.
Through the relationship which develops between Vee and Erica, as Erica researches the background to Vee’s career and her relationship with Leonie, the story, told in flashbacks to the 1960s, 70s and 80s, gradually reveals Vee’s recollections of this significant time in her life. Split into seven parts (subject, light, focus, distance, movement, exposure, development) each section is introduced not only by a description of a particular image and Vee’s approach to photographing her subjects, but also by a list of significant events which occurred during the year it was taken, with footnotes referring to the contemporary state of progress (or otherwise!) in the Women’s Movement. However, this was not just a look back at history but, through Erica’s life as a young married mother who was trying to juggle the often-conflicting needs of family and career, was an exploration of the changing face of feminism in the twenty first century, and the ongoing struggle for equality.
I thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating, thought-provoking story of the power of female friendship and the history of the growth of feminism in the past fifty years. Each of the characters portrayed felt multi-faceted, convincingly drawn and used to good effect to explore the changing face of feminism over this period. Whilst it is undeniable that progress has been made in the last half century, the story also demonstrates that the battle for equality is far from over, that women still need to make their voices heard; to own their power and not to be afraid of it; not to fear being seen as strident if they demand more; not to play down their achievements, or find it hard to accept compliments for them – how many men are similarly self-effacing about these issues? The story made me reflect on how things have changed from the start of the Women’s Lib movement in the 1960s to the contemporary #MeToo movement and to challenge my own beliefs on how far we have come. It made me think in much more detail about the sexism which continues to exist and which, because of its all too often insidious nature, is perhaps even harder to challenge without being accused of being either strident, hypersensitive – or even too politically correct!
I really enjoyed the occasional “Letters from a Feminist”, written by Leonie for “This Month” magazine. Addressed “Dear John” and described as “our monthly column from the front line of the Battle of the Sexes”, these letters added an extra dimension to Leonie’s reflections on feminism, the fight for equality, the challenge to men to reflect on this and to change their behaviour. Evocatively capturing the contemporary language, attitudes and ongoing struggle of mid-twentieth century feminists, these letters alone would provide rich material for reading groups!
I loved the ways in which, throughout the story, the art and technical skill of photography was a central theme, effectively demonstrating how a photographer’s power to create, and own, an image was so much greater when using film than it is in our digital age. The spectre of the infamous photograph, which brought Vee’s career as a photographer to an abrupt end, hovered throughout the story-telling, until its genesis was firstly revealed, and then analysed by Vee, enabling a different light to be shone on it. One of the things which made this so powerful for me was its challenge to the saying “the camera never lies”. Not only is any image a mere capturing of a moment in time, but the final result takes no account of the fact that, however other people choose to interpret it, only the photographer knows what was really happening at the time of exposure, and what the intent was behind the decision to focus on that particular image. This thought-provoking exploration of the genesis of the controversial photograph made me reflect on the parallels with how, once a book has been published, an author is equally powerless to control how a reader will interpret their lovingly created story!
To paraphrase just one of the author’s reflections on feminism and the ongoing fight for equality in 2018 – Theresa May is the UK’s second female prime minister but when she and her husband were interviewed they referred to “girl jobs” and “boy jobs”! In her author’s note Stephanie Buckland makes a plea for “…. more unapologetic women. We need them in fiction, and we need them in the world.” I think it would be hard for anyone reading her eloquently written, impassioned story to disagree and I believe that her thought-provoking reflections will encourage readers (male as well as female!) to think about how they can continue to strive for true equality.