it's exactly this! Female photographers tend to be a lot more hesitant/indecisive...they change their minds, aren't sure, etc. Men tend to know exactly what they want - with them it's either yes or no. In the end it's much easier to go with a strong idea and vision than to try and grasp or understand an idea that is ever-changing, being doubted or sometimes even far too complex.
Wait a second here; so, you're saying that female photographers (and women?)
in general are hesitant and indecisive? On what basis are you making this assumption? On what evidence?
The prevalence of male photographers in the fashion industry, in my opinion, is due to socio-economic factors and has little to do with a lack of talent.
There's definitely a time-lag in place which was alluded to earlier in this thread. The top photographers operating at the moment grew up in a time in which men were offered greater opportunities than women (Demarchelier was born in 1943, for instance.) A female photographer growing up at the same time would have faced far greater pressures than their male counterparts. Women were taught to have different aspirations from men and may have faced prejudice on account of their gender. For these reasons, we're seeing fewer top female photographers. It's not so much that there weren't women around of Demarchelier's generation who had the potential to become great photographers, it's more that their talents were not nurtured.
Hopefully a new generation of bright, female photographers will emerge in the near future. Although we're far from achieving gender equality, hopefully more modern egalitarian values will produce a crop of great female photographers. I believe that the rise of the internet and availability of cameras has levelled the playing field enormously. More people can become photographers and are able to share their work easily online. This is a brilliant development.
I agree wholeheartedly with YoninahAliza's about the sexual nature of many male fashion photographer's work. There is nothing wrong with sexuality in fashion photography. In fact, it's an important part of the art form. The trouble is that the work of some (but certainly not all) male fashion photographers can be sexually exploitative. The work of Terry Richardson et al presents women on a plate, arguably as nothing more than objects. We often forget what a great impact fashion photography has on our society and how it often guides the way in which society views women. If women are so frequently presented through a male lens and are objectified in images, they become sexual objects in the real world. It's disappointing how uncommon it is to see a fashion photography which feature women in control or celebrating their own sexuality.
Do you think that more female fashion photographers could perhaps improve the way in while society views women? Would we see more egalitarian imagery in fashion? As fashionista-ta mentioned, I often find that the women portrayed in some fashion photographs are more commonly conforming to male sexual desires than female ones.
I know that I'm veering off topic here slightly but this documentary about advertisement and it's impact upon gender and race is definitely worth a watch. It was in parts on Youtube but I can't find it. It might also be interesting to expand this debate into why there are so few fashion photographers of colour?