List of German women photographers

This is a list of women photographers who were born in Germany or whose works are closely associated with that country.

A

Louise Abel (1841–1907), German-born Norwegian photographer
Gertrud Arndt (1903–2000), created self-portraits from around 1930
Ursula Arnold (1929–2012), street scenes in Berlin and Leipzig during the German Democratic Republic
Ellen Auerbach (1906–2004), see United States

B

Tina Bara (born 1962), freelance artistic photographer
Uta Barth (born 1958), art photography
Carla Bartheel (1902–1983), film actress and photographer
Hilla Becher (1934–2015), together with her brother Bernd, produced typologies of industrial buildings and structures
Bertha Beckmann (1815–1901), possibly Germany's first professional woman photographer
Katharina Behrend (1888–1973), see Netherlands
Sibylle Bergemann (1941–2010), chronicler of social life in East Germany
Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896–1971), abstract painter, photographer, filmmaker
Ruth Bernhard (1905–2006), German-born American lesbian photographer
Emilie Bieber (1810–1884), pioneer who opened a studio in Hamburg as early as 1852
Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), of the New Objectivity movement
Ilse Bing (1899–1998), versatile photographer (fashion, architecture, etc.) from the 1920s to the 1950s, often using remarkable compositions
Anna Blume (1937–2011), staged photographs and installations, often depicting herself and her husband Bernhard
Dorothy Bohm (1924–2023), see United Kingdom
Jenny Bossard-Biow (1813 – after 1858), possibly the first woman in Germany to have made daguerreotypes
Marianne Breslauer (1909–2001), active in the early 1930s
Käthe Buchler (1876–1930), documented WWI in Braunschweig, Germany
Traude Bührmann (born 1942), writer, journalist, photographer

C

Gladys Chai von der Laage (born 1953), sports photographer
Rosemarie Clausen (1907–1990), theatre and portrait photographer

D

Wanda von Debschitz-Kunowski (1870–1935), portrait photographer, educator
Minya Diez-Dührkoop (1873–1929), professional photographer with a studio in Berlin

E

Frauke Eigen (born 1969), photographer of the aftermath of war in Kosovo

F

Claudia Fährenkemper (born 1959), landscape photographer
Gertrude Fehr (1895–1996), did solarisation photos
Gisèle Freund (1908–2000), see France

G

Yishay Garbasz (born 1970), interdisciplinary artist in large format, photographer.
Marie Goslich (1859–1936), photographer of social issues, etc., for magazines
Sophia Goudstikker (1865–1924), portraitist and women's rights activist
Liselotte Grschebina (1908–1994), see Israel
Julia Gunther (born 1979), documentary photographer

H

Lisel Haas (1898–1989), German-born Jewish photographer who moved to Britain
Esther Haase (born 1966), photographer, film director
Elisabeth Hase (1905–1991), commercial and documentary photographer
Alma Haser (born 1989), portrait photographer
Sandra Hastenteufel (born 1966), contemporary artist, photographer
Roswitha Hecke (born 1944), photojournalist
Annemarie Heinrich (1912–2005), see Argentina
Nanna Heitmann (born 1994)
Lotte Herrlich (1883–1956), photographer of naturism during the 1920s
Juliane Herrmann (born 1989), photographer curating photography exhibitions
Hannah Höch (1889–1978), pioneer of photomontage, participated in the Dada movement
Marta Hoepffner (1912–2000), artist, photographer
Candida Höfer (born 1944), highly precise large-format depictions of guest workers in Germany, interiors, zoos, capturing the psychology of social architecture
Sabine Hornig (born 1964), photographer and contemporary artist depicting architecture and urban life
Walde Huth (1923–2011), fashion photographer

J

Lotte Jacobi (1896–1990), initially family photography, then shots of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, from 1935 studio in Manhattan, portraits of celebrities
Charlotte Joël (c. 1882–1943), Jewish portrait photographer

K

Ingeborg Kahlenberg (1920–1996), photographer for the Dutch resistance
Johanna Keimeyer (born 1982), photographer, artist
Annette Kelm (born 1975), contemporary artist, photographer
Astrid Kirchherr (1938–2020), photographed the Beatles before they became famous
Emma Kirchner (1830–1909), trained in Leipzig, moved to Netherlands as first woman photographer in Delft area
Barbara Klemm (active 1959–2004), press photographer
Katrin Korfmann (born 1971), fine art photographer
Monika Kropshofer (born 1952), painter, photographer
Germaine Krull (1897–1985), photographer, activist
Marie Kundt (1870–1932), photographer, educator

L

Lisa Larsen (1925–1959), pioneering woman photojournalist
Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (1883–1962), photographer of rural individuals, collected in books that sold well in the Nazi period
Esther Levine (born 1970), urban and street photography
Alice Lex-Nerlinger (1893–1975), artist in the media of painting, photography, photomontage and photograms
Annelise Löffler (1914–2000), active in the world of dance
Barbara Luisi (fl 2000s), photographer and musician
Loretta Lux (born 1969), fine art photographer known for surreal portraits of young children
Rut Blees Luxemburg (born 1967), photographer of night scenes

M

Melanie Manchot (born 1966), specializes in photographs of people in public, sometimes inviting them to undress
Jeanne Mandello (1907–2001), modern experimental photographer, studio in Paris, later moved to South America
Anne Menke (born 1967), German-born editorial photographer, based in New York
Hansel Mieth (1909–1998), see United States
Lucia Moholy (1894–1989), see Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic
Hedda Morrison (1908–1991), early photographs of Peking, Hong Kong and Sarawak, later lived and exhibited in Australia

N

Cathleen Naundorf (born 1968), artist and photographer
Anja Niedringhaus (1965–2014), photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
Simone Nieweg (born 1962), landscape photographer
Margret Nissen (born 1938), photographer of architecture
Sonya Noskowiak (1900–1975), German-American photographer

O

Hildegard Ochse (1935–1997), freelance photographer, educator
Li Osborne (1883–1968), German-born British photographer and sculptor

P

Helga Paris (1938–2024), photographer specializing in East-German street scenes
Angelika Platen (born in 1942), portrait photographer
Bettina Pousttchi (born 1971), German-Iranian sculptor, photographer, filmmaker
Barbara Probst (born 1964), contemporary artist, photographer
Anne-Katrin Purkiss (born 1959), portrait photographer

R

Katja Rahlwes (born 1967), fashion photographer
Elfriede Reichelt (1883–1953), fine art photographer
Claudia Reinhardt (born 1964), contemporary photographer
Regina Relang (1906–1989), fashion photographer
Evelyn Richter (1930–2021), art photographer active in social documentary photography
Ursula Richter (1886–1946), dance and theatre photography in Dresden
Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003), film director and dancer who also published photos of the Nuba tribes in Sudan and, later, marine life
Frieda Riess (1890–c. 1955), German portrait photographer in the 1920s with a studio in central Berlin
Tata Ronkholz (1940–1997)
Hildegard Rosenthal (1913–1990), German photographer who became a photojournalist and a noted photographer after her emigration to Brazil.

S

Eva Sandberg-Xiao (1911–2001), photographer in Russia and China
Thyra Schmidt (born 1974), art photography and new media artist
Stefanie Schneider (born 1968), photographer of the American west
Ursula Schulz-Dornburg (born 1938), photographer in black and white
Gundula Schulze Eldowy (born 1954), art photographer
Hanni Schwarz (born c. 1901), nude and portrait photographer
Else Seifert (1879–1968), architectural photographer
Heji Shin (born 1976), art and fashion photographer
Katharina Sieverding (born 1944), self-portraitist
Annegret Soltau (born 1946), stitched photomontages of the human body
Grete Stern (1904–1999), see Argentina
Liselotte Strelow (1908–1981), employed by Kodak

T

Gerda Taro (1910–1937), early female war photographer, remembered for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War, especially Valencia, published in Life and Illustrated London News
Elsa Thiemann (1910–1981), street photographer who trained at the Bauhaus
Abisag Tüllmann (1935–1996), photojournalist

U

Ellen von Unwerth (born 1954), photographer of erotic femininity

V

Jutta Vialon (1917–2004), based in Bremen
Christa Frieda Vogel (born 1960), documentary photographer

W

Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann (1815–1901), Germany's first professional female photographer with a studio in Leipzig from 1843
Anna Werner (born 1941), associated with Der Harem
Marianne Wex (1937–2020), feminist photographer and author
Ruth Wilhelmi (1904–1977), stage photographer
Madeline Winkler-Betzendahl (1899–1995), fashion and stage photographer
Anne Winterer (1894–1938), studio in Düsseldorf, portraits, industrial subjects
Ursula Wolff Schneider (1906–1977), photographer and photojournalist

Y

Yva (1900–c. 1942), German Jewish photographer, multiple exposed images

Z

Bertha Zillessen (1872–1936)
Bettina von Zwehl (born 1971), portrait photographer, based in London

A

B

C

D

E

F

G

H

J

K

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

V

W

Y

Z

See also