PRESS RELEASE

Will social media help find photographer's Visible Girls?

First Women creator and photographer Anita Corbin is using the power of social media to continue the search for the women she photographed over thirty years ago.

Somerset photographer, Anita Corbin, has turned to social media to search for the women who appeared in her "Visible Girls" portfolio which proved to be the springboard for her ground breaking project entitled "First Women".http://www.1stwomenuk.org/join-search-visible-girls. International social media and entertainment site BuzzFeed is helping spread the word so Anita can continue to document the women's progress 30 years on.

Anita's project First Women looks at how women will be remembered over the past 100 years. In the years leading up to 2018, the 100th anniversary of Women's Suffrage, Anita is shooting and collecting 100 iconic portraits of 21st century women who have achieved the landmark title "First Woman" across a range of fields.

As part of the documentary collection for First Women, Anita wants to recreate her Visible Girls collection from 1981. Inspired by the feminist movement of the seventies, Anita created her "Visible Girls" to capture the blossoming of young women's identity and freedom to be who they wanted to be. The collection was a series of double portraits looking at girls in subcultures; mods, rockers, skins, rastas, new romantics, rockabillies, punks and women in the women's movement.

The photographs depicted intimate portraits of friends, sisters and lovers between the ages of 16-22, in and around London. 33 years on Anita is looking to recreate these portraits and ask the women...how far have we all come? Anita has posted all the Visible Girl portraits on her website:http://www.1stwomenuk.org/join-search-visible-girlsand wants as many people as possible to join in the search.

Anita says, "When I look at this picture taken on a very damp IWD 33 year ago in Brighton I can remember vividly the energy and sense of urgency in the hundreds of marching and chanting women. We were barely five years on from the new Sex Discrimination Act and there was plenty to shout about, we were flexing our political muscles, we were ready to go out and make the most of the new equal opportunities made possible by law. Whether we were striving to 'reclaim the night' or championing 'women's right to choose' or 'embracing the base' there was always a very real connection to the cause - our voices were to be heard.

"I was a 3rd year photography student age 22 and I had just been given the biggest break any photographer could dream of; my first published pictures ever and they were in the Sunday Times Magazine, published on March 8th 1981. I also had an honourable mention in the 'Nikon/Sunday Times Young Photojournalist of the Year Award' .

"Marlise and Noelle, the young women in the Brighton portrait were good friends and part of a large group of supportive women who were carving out an alternative lifestyle and actively breaking down all the stereotypes. I love the way they look like they are just taking a breather from singing at the tops of their voices, I remember the sense of freedom and independence; it was very satisfying."

"The entire ‘Visible Girls' project entitled " a study of girls in subcultures 1980-1981", toured the UK with the Cockpit Gallery and then Camerawork until 2004. It is now housed at London South Bank University where the collection helps to inspire and shape the work of their Digital Photography students - 33 years on!"

How you can help - Join the search for the Visible Girls! Anita says, "I'm in contact with some of these women, but I need your help to find the rest...perhaps they are your mother, your sister or your friend?"

Anita is appealing to people to click or share the link to these images to see if they or their family or friends recognise these inspirational women. Anyone with information can contact Anita atinfo@1stwomenuk.co.uk.

Photo Captions:

Jill and friend, the Blitz Nightclub, Covent Garden Dec 1980

Rosalee and Deborah at the Tabernacle, Nottinghill Gate, April 1981

Kath and Em at home in Putney, October 1980

Marlise and Noelle on a march for International Women's Day 1981

Anita Corbin taken in 1983 by Raissa Page, fellow founding member of Format Photographers, the first and only all women photographic agency launched in 1983.

Simeon and Simeon at the Orchard Youth Club, Slough, March 1981

Further information: Anita Corbin, Tel: 01823 662329 or mob: 07802 613911 or check out:www.1stwomenuk.co.uk

Press information and images from Jane Adkins, Tel 01935 813114 or email:jane@aheadforpr.co.ukor visit:www.aheadforpr.co.uk

June 2014 (PR 15)