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.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

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

See also

• List of women photographers