Looks Like a Job For a Woman

While it's true that, in the past at least, the vast majority of people in employment were men, there were some jobs that it was seen as acceptable for a woman to do - particularly if she wasn't yet married.



Image Courtesy of Thirdparty/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In the past I've come across the records of two sisters who worked as photographer's assistants - it was sometimes assumed that women would do the tasks such as preparing the costumes/sets and leave dealing with the chemicals needed to develop the pictures for the male photographer. This was often not the case. A female photographer's assistant would be just as likely, if not more, to be mixing the chemicals required in this period (makes me glad I can just upload pictures when I want!)

Some women even set themselves up as photographers, though this was more unusual.

So, photography, a chance for middle-class women of the late Victorian/early Edwardian period to be on the front-line of technology, and a great story for anyone's family tree.