List of German women photographers

This is a list of women photographers who were born in Germany or whose works are closely associated with that country.

A

 * Louise Abel (1841–1907), German-born Norwegian photographer
 * Gertrud Arndt (1903–2000), created self-portraits from around 1930
 * Ursula Arnold (1929–2012), street scenes in Berlin and Leipzig during the German Democratic Republic
 * Ellen Auerbach (1906–2004), see United States

B

 * Tina Bara (born 1962), freelance artistic photographer
 * Uta Barth (born 1958), art photography
 * Carla Bartheel (1902–1983), film actress and photographer
 * Hilla Becher (1934–2015), together with her brother Bernd, produced typologies of industrial buildings and structures
 * Bertha Beckmann (1815–1901), possibly Germany's first professional woman photographer
 * Katharina Behrend (1888–1973), see Netherlands
 * Sibylle Bergemann (1941–2010), chronicler of social life in East Germany
 * Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896–1971), abstract painter, photographer, filmmaker
 * Ruth Bernhard (1905–2006), German-born American lesbian photographer
 * Emilie Bieber (1810–1884), pioneer who opened a studio in Hamburg as early as 1852
 * Aenne Biermann (1898–1933), of the New Objectivity movement
 * Ilse Bing (1899–1998), versatile photographer (fashion, architecture, etc.) from the 1920s to the 1950s, often using remarkable compositions
 * Anna Blume (1937–2011), staged photographs and installations, often depicting herself and her husband Bernhard
 * Dorothy Bohm (1924–2023), see United Kingdom
 * Jenny Bossard-Biow (1813 – after 1858), possibly the first woman in Germany to have made daguerreotypes
 * Marianne Breslauer (1909–2001), active in the early 1930s
 * Käthe Buchler (1876–1930), documented WWI in Braunschweig, Germany
 * Traude Bührmann (born 1942), writer, journalist, photographer

C

 * Gladys Chai von der Laage (born 1953), sports photographer
 * Rosemarie Clausen (1907–1990), theatre and portrait photographer

D

 * Wanda von Debschitz-Kunowski (1870–1935), portrait photographer, educator
 * Minya Diez-Dührkoop (1873–1929), professional photographer with a studio in Berlin

E

 * Frauke Eigen (born 1969), photographer of the aftermath of war in Kosovo

F

 * Claudia Fährenkemper (born 1959), landscape photographer
 * Gertrude Fehr (1895–1996), did solarisation photos
 * Gisèle Freund (1908–2000), see France

G

 * Yishay Garbasz (born 1970), interdisciplinary artist in large format, photographer.
 * Marie Goslich (1859–1936), photographer of social issues, etc., for magazines
 * Sophia Goudstikker (1865–1924), portraitist and women's rights activist
 * Liselotte Grschebina (1908–1994), see Israel
 * Julia Gunther (born 1979), documentary photographer

H

 * Lisel Haas (1898–1989), German-born Jewish photographer who moved to Britain
 * Esther Haase (born 1966), photographer, film director
 * Elisabeth Hase (1905–1991), commercial and documentary photographer
 * Alma Haser (born 1989), portrait photographer
 * Sandra Hastenteufel (born 1966), contemporary artist, photographer
 * Roswitha Hecke (born 1944), photojournalist
 * Annemarie Heinrich (1912–2005), see Argentina
 * Nanna Heitmann (born 1994)
 * Lotte Herrlich (1883–1956), photographer of naturism during the 1920s
 * Juliane Herrmann (born 1989), photographer curating photography exhibitions
 * Hannah Höch (1889–1978), pioneer of photomontage, participated in the Dada movement
 * Marta Hoepffner (1912–2000), artist, photographer
 * Candida Höfer (born 1944), highly precise large-format depictions of guest workers in Germany, interiors, zoos, capturing the psychology of social architecture
 * Sabine Hornig (born 1964), photographer and contemporary artist depicting architecture and urban life
 * Walde Huth (1923–2011), fashion photographer

J

 * Lotte Jacobi (1896–1990), initially family photography, then shots of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, from 1935 studio in Manhattan, portraits of celebrities
 * Charlotte Joël (c. 1882–1943), Jewish portrait photographer

K

 * Ingeborg Kahlenberg (1920–1996), photographer for the Dutch resistance
 * Johanna Keimeyer (born 1982), photographer, artist
 * Annette Kelm (born 1975), contemporary artist, photographer
 * Astrid Kirchherr (1938–2020), photographed the Beatles before they became famous
 * Emma Kirchner (1830–1909), trained in Leipzig, moved to Netherlands as first woman photographer in Delft area
 * Barbara Klemm (active 1959–2004), press photographer
 * Katrin Korfmann (born 1971), fine art photographer
 * Monika Kropshofer (born 1952), painter, photographer
 * Germaine Krull (1897–1985), photographer, activist
 * Marie Kundt (1870–1932), photographer, educator

L

 * Lisa Larsen (1925–1959), pioneering woman photojournalist
 * Erna Lendvai-Dircksen (1883–1962), photographer of rural individuals, collected in books that sold well in the Nazi period
 * Esther Levine (born 1970), urban and street photography
 * Alice Lex-Nerlinger (1893–1975), artist in the media of painting, photography, photomontage and photograms
 * Annelise Löffler (1914–2000), active in the world of dance
 * Barbara Luisi (fl 2000s), photographer and musician
 * Loretta Lux (born 1969), fine art photographer known for surreal portraits of young children
 * Rut Blees Luxemburg (born 1967), photographer of night scenes

M

 * Melanie Manchot (born 1966), specializes in photographs of people in public, sometimes inviting them to undress
 * Jeanne Mandello (1907–2001), modern experimental photographer, studio in Paris, later moved to South America
 * Anne Menke (born 1967), German-born editorial photographer, based in New York
 * Hansel Mieth (1909–1998), see United States
 * Lucia Moholy (1894–1989), see Czechoslovakia, Czech Republic
 * Hedda Morrison (1908–1991), early photographs of Peking, Hong Kong and Sarawak, later lived and exhibited in Australia

N

 * Cathleen Naundorf (born 1968), artist and photographer
 * Anja Niedringhaus (1965–2014), photojournalist, Pulitzer Prize winner
 * Simone Nieweg (born 1962), landscape photographer
 * Margret Nissen (born 1938), photographer of architecture
 * Sonya Noskowiak (1900–1975), German-American photographer

O

 * Hildegard Ochse (1935–1997), freelance photographer, educator
 * Li Osborne (1883–1968), German-born British photographer and sculptor

P

 * Helga Paris (1938–2024), photographer specializing in East-German street scenes
 * Angelika Platen (born in 1942), portrait photographer
 * Bettina Pousttchi (born 1971), German-Iranian sculptor, photographer, filmmaker
 * Barbara Probst (born 1964), contemporary artist, photographer
 * Anne-Katrin Purkiss (born 1959), portrait photographer

R

 * Katja Rahlwes (born 1967), fashion photographer
 * Elfriede Reichelt (1883–1953), fine art photographer
 * Claudia Reinhardt (born 1964), contemporary photographer
 * Regina Relang (1906–1989), fashion photographer
 * Evelyn Richter (1930–2021), art photographer active in social documentary photography
 * Ursula Richter (1886–1946), dance and theatre photography in Dresden
 * Leni Riefenstahl (1902–2003), film director and dancer who also published photos of the Nuba tribes in Sudan and, later, marine life
 * Frieda Riess (1890–c. 1955), German portrait photographer in the 1920s with a studio in central Berlin
 * Tata Ronkholz (1940–1997)
 * Hildegard Rosenthal (1913–1990), German photographer who became a photojournalist and a noted photographer after her emigration to Brazil.

S

 * Eva Sandberg-Xiao (1911–2001), photographer in Russia and China
 * Thyra Schmidt (born 1974), art photography and new media artist
 * Stefanie Schneider (born 1968), photographer of the American west
 * Ursula Schulz-Dornburg (born 1938), photographer in black and white
 * Gundula Schulze Eldowy (born 1954), art photographer
 * Hanni Schwarz (born c. 1901), nude and portrait photographer
 * Else Seifert (1879–1968), architectural photographer
 * Heji Shin (born 1976), art and fashion photographer
 * Katharina Sieverding (born 1944), self-portraitist
 * Annegret Soltau (born 1946), stitched photomontages of the human body
 * Grete Stern (1904–1999), see Argentina
 * Liselotte Strelow (1908–1981), employed by Kodak

T

 * Gerda Taro (1910–1937), early female war photographer, remembered for her coverage of the Spanish Civil War, especially Valencia, published in Life and Illustrated London News
 * Elsa Thiemann (1910–1981), street photographer who trained at the Bauhaus
 * Abisag Tüllmann (1935–1996), photojournalist

U

 * Ellen von Unwerth (born 1954), photographer of erotic femininity

V

 * Jutta Vialon (1917–2004), based in Bremen
 * Christa Frieda Vogel (born 1960), documentary photographer

W

 * Bertha Wehnert-Beckmann (1815–1901), Germany's first professional female photographer with a studio in Leipzig from 1843
 * Anna Werner (born 1941), associated with Der Harem
 * Marianne Wex (1937–2020), feminist photographer and author
 * Ruth Wilhelmi (1904–1977), stage photographer
 * Madeline Winkler-Betzendahl (1899–1995), fashion and stage photographer
 * Anne Winterer (1894–1938), studio in Düsseldorf, portraits, industrial subjects
 * Ursula Wolff Schneider (1906–1977), photographer and photojournalist

Y

 * Yva (1900–c. 1942), German Jewish photographer, multiple exposed images

Z

 * Bertha Zillessen (1872–1936)
 * Bettina von Zwehl (born 1971), portrait photographer, based in London