This London Electronic Music Photographer Quit Due To The Scene’s Misogyny

“The misogyny and bullying I have had to endure over the last three years should not be something that anyone has to go through.”

September 15, 2017

I have a Big Knob Studio Command System behind me for company today 😂

A post shared by Sarah Ginn (@sarahginnphoto) on

Photographer Sarah Ginn has been working in the music industry for the past decade. Based in Bristol, in the south of the U.K., Ginn has been a resident photographer at the famous London club Fabric since 2006, as well as shooting for Red Bull Music Academy, Glastonbury festival, Swamp 81, and many more. But this morning, September 15, she announced that she's leaving the industry for good due to the "misogyny and bullying" she has experienced.

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In a statement shared on Twitter, she wrote: "The misogyny and bullying I have had to endure over the last three years should not be something that anyone has to go through...It doesn't matter what you achieve if people objectify you as fair game because you are backstage. Am I not a person? Do you think that my body is the only thing to me? Quite frankly I would rather talk about snares and bass lines."

She went on, "This has been a very tough decision to make. However if I am not respected and valued by the people I shoot as an equal I can't make them look amazing, morally it's wrong for my images to be a lie."

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Ginn's exposure of her reason for stepping away from the music industry is a powerful, brave action that should inspire a great deal of reflection. She no longer feels comfortable glorifying the scene through her images, and would actually feel safer and more respected in a corporate environment than in the clubs she loves. For any fellow electronic music lover, hearing that is incredibly sad. The objectification and/or harassment faced by women and femmes of the music industry in clubs, backstage, and in other environments related to their work, is a serious problem, and can even drive people away from their dream careers. Ginn's decision is a sobering reminder that this is still a reality, and there is always more work to be done.

See more of Ginn's work here, and read her full statement below.

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This London Electronic Music Photographer Quit Due To The Scene’s Misogyny