100 First Women Portraits

100 First Women Portraits, striking photos celebrating pioneering women of the 21st century, will be the first post-lockdown exhibition at Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery (RAMM) when the cultural venue re-opens on 24 October 2020. 

The extraordinary collection of images by South-West photographer Anita Corbin is the culmination of her 10-year personal quest to create an inspiring visual archive of modern women who have achieved ‘firsts’ in their field, often in male-dominated professions and environments. 

It includes a cohort of remarkable Westcountry women who have excelled in a diverse range of skills (from ocean swimming to beatboxing) and across a variety of professions (from structural engineering to leading roles in the Armed Forces). 

The RAMM exhibition brings the national tour of 100 First Women Portraits to Anita Corbin’s ‘home turf’ in the South West for the first time since its launch in London in 2018.  Throughout her 40-year career as a renowned reportage and portrait photographer, Anita has often chosen to focus her lens on women who defy the norm. This  thought-provoking exhibition features images of famous faces and unsung heroines from across Devon throughout the decades including: 

• Plymouth-born newscaster and Morecambe and Wise star-turn, Angela Rippon 
• 2x Booker Prize Dame Hilary Mantel who lives in Budleigh Salterton 
• Devon’s Baroness Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, the first woman to be Lord Justice of Appeal 
• Exeter-born Bellatrix, the first female World Champion Beatboxer
• Edith Kent (deceased), the first woman to gain Equal Pay in 1943 (Plymouth Docks) whose daughter Jean lives in Exmouth

Anita says:  “I hope this exhibition will motivate, encourage and empower women and men across all ages and backgrounds and help them see that it is possible to breakdown barriers - whether gender, social, economic, cultural or political - to unlock their full potential.”

The RAMM opening - part of a two-year UK-wide tour - will be the first opportunity the public will have had to see the exhibition on display since the spring when its run at Brighton Museum and Art Gallery had to be cut short because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The layout and visiting arrangements for the Exeter exhibition will be unlike those at any of the previous venues - the portraits will be hung three tiers high and social-distancing measures will be in place to safeguard visitors and staff. A one-way system will be in place throughout the exhibition spaces and people will have to pre-book a timed entry at rammuseum.org.uk/entrytickets. Entry tickets are free to book.