Käthe Buchler in Context: Women’s Photographic Viewpoints on War in the Early Twentieth Century

War photography is usually assumed to be something that is made on the battlefield by a risk-taking photojournalist alongside fighting soldiers. Not only is this a narrow conception of war photography, but it is also a mode that sidelines most women, who have historically been excluded from the military as well as discouraged from ‘hard news’ photography. As the remarkable work of Käthe Buchler (Germany, 1836-1930) demonstrates, however, women have been resourceful in finding alternative modes of photography to reflect their viewpoints on war. This chapter sets Buchler's work in context, discussing the activities on women in the First World War and Mexican Revolution. I argue that, collectively, the images by Buchler and her peers have bequeathed us with a richer and more nuanced understanding of war in the early twentieth century.