Vintage Photographs of Women in Combat

Historically, women’s roles during wartime conjure visions of Rosie the Riveter but the Femmes au Combat (Women in Combat) exhibition at Galerie Lumière des Roses in Montreuil, France proves that in other parts of the world, females were granted a different role. The collection of vintage photographs shed a different light on female participation during historical wars in perhaps the most comprehensive documentation of women combatants. From the well-coiffed hair of Simone Segouin of the French Resistance(1945) to a woman bearing a pistol in her belt during the Spanish War (1936), Femmes au Combat highlights the female representation during times of conflict but also harkens the brutal reality of why they needed to bear firearms in the first place. The eye-opening exhibit runs through January 2015.

For a related article, try Women Driven to Carry Guns.

Anonymous photographer, Mexican Revolution (1910)