Foto de perfil de Georgia O'Keeffe con su cámara

Behind the Camera: Women in Photography

It’s a summer of photography! Join us in a three-session course inspired by Modern Women/Modern Vision and Georgia O’Keeffe, Photographer.
Purchase Full Course (onsite)Purchase Full Course (online)

Course Information

With local art historians and photographers as guides, learn how women have contributed to the development and evolution of photography. Journey to the 1800s to discover women’s early involvement in the medium, take a peek into the DAM’s own collections, and meet photographers who continue to shape the field today.


Ticket Information

Register for individual sessions or the entire course. To register for the in-person course in Sharp Auditorium, please purchase an onsite ticket. To register for the online livestream of the course, please purchase an online ticket.

Please note: All course registrants will receive a link to the recorded course session, which will be available to view for two weeks after the course. You do not need to purchase both tickets to access a recording of the course.

  • Museum Friends:
    • $45 full course
    • $15 individual session
    • Please log into your Museum Friends account to access discounted tickets.
  • Members:
    • $54 full course
    • $17 individual sessions
  • General Public:
    • $60 full course
    • $20 individual sessions

Schedule & Location

  • Tuesdays, 6–7:15 pm
    • May 17, 2022
    • June 21, 2022
    • July 19, 2022
  • This course will take place at the museum in Sharp Auditorium and online via livestream.
    • Online registrants will receive a link to access the course session livestream prior to the start of the session.
  • To register for the in-person course in Sharp Auditorium, please purchase an onsite ticket. To register for the livestream of the course, please purchase an online ticket
A black and white photograph of women.

Photograph by/of Swedish photographer Rosalie Sjöman and her studio.

Session 1

Early Women Photographers

Presented by Kara Felt, Ph.D., this first session will explore the many roles that women played in nineteenth-century photography. From working in major studios to producing photographs as professionals and amateurs, women made many contributions to the medium’s first half-century, though histories and collections of photography tend to emphasize only a few extraordinary examples.

Black and white photograph of a person standing below a tree.

Flor Garduño, El árbol de Yalalag, Mexico, 1983. Gelatin silver print; 8 ¾ x 12 inches. Denver Art Museum: Gift of an anonymous donor, 2019.789 © Flor Garduño.

Session 2

Making Pictures: Women Photographers from the DAM Collection

Presented by Kimberly Roberts, Senior Curatorial Assistant of Photography, the second session will explore the work of several women photographers in the DAM’s permanent collection. We will dive into the stories of a few of these women’s careers in the field of photography, consider ways photographers influence each other and future generations, and discover how contemporary photographers approach some of the oldest subjects in the history of photography—landscape and portraiture—with new perspectives.

Gallery shot of the exhibition "Curious Visions" at the Denver Art Museum

Session 3

Women Photographers Here and Now

In the final course session, get to know Denver-area photographers, gaining insight into their creative practices and innovative visions. In this panel discussion, we’ll learn more about their work and ask how they see themselves in this rich continuum of women in the field.

Lifelong Learning and Accessibility programs are supported by the William Randolph Hearst Endowment for Education Programs, Nancy Benson Education Endowment Fund, CenturyLink Endowment, Jim Kelley and Amie Knox Education Endowment Fund, and the Cooke-Daniels Fund. Support is also provided by the Michael and Karen Fried Community Education Fund and the residents who support the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD).