From spy to substitute, the exhibition celebrates the British pioneers, Life & Culture

Tue, 17 Jul 2018 – 23:44

[LONDON] From the first British woman to command a naval base to first at the MI5 spying agency and the first to become a surrogate mother, a photo exhibition has documented the achievements of British women a century since they won the right to vote.

Photographer Anita Corbin has spent more than a decade photographing 100 British women who have directed their fields – including the arts, sports, military and scientific – for the exhibition. Royal College of Art in London.

"Not only does this celebrate 100 years of women's lives, but it also shows the world that you've decided something, what you can do as a pioneer," said Anita Corbin before opening of his exhibition "First Women UK" Friday

"Once you are a first, you are always a first … The most important part of the picture is the woman and her energy and her pioneering spirit "she said in a telephone interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

She stated that she wanted to document the lives of "pioneering" women, who often worked in male-dominated environments.

Her subjects include Dany Cotton, London's first female fire chief; Elspeth Beard, the first British woman to ride a motorcycle in the world, and Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's first woman prime minister.

"Many women have had very difficult passages to get to these positions as you can imagine. In 1965, few women in Britain held high-level positions, and wage differences attracted the greatest number of women. Public attention, large companies to publish the earnings gap figures this year.

Women working for the BBC complained of being paid less than men in jobs and accused the leaders of misleading them to conceal the widespread discrimination between men and women in Britain

According to government data released last year

Ms. Corbin stated that 39, there was still a lot to be done to achieve gender parity.

"It's a positive celebration, a great success for everyone to go that far. It has taken a hundred years and it is where we are and there is still a lot to do, there is still a lot to change, "she said.

REUTERS