SHE CAN KICK IT!
Women's Football and Photography
f3 – freiraum für fotografie, Berlin
Through September 7, 2025
Marta Vieira da Silva for The New York Times, 2009
© Dewey Nicks
1970s, England. Photographed by Hy Money
© Hy Money / Topfoto
From the series Football Came Home, 2022
© Harriet Duffy
An exhibition with works by: Caterina Barjau, Günther Bauer, Christophe Berlet, Thomas Böcker, Harriet Duffy, Laura Freigang, Johanna-Maria Fritz, Kai Heuser, Elliot James Kennedy, Alice Mann, Susan Meiselas, Hy Money, Dewey Nicks, Anja Niedringhaus, Cait Oppermann, David Ramos, Dana Rösiger, Josefine Seifert, Daniel Silva Yoshisato, Dorothea Tuch, Alexa Vachon, Viridiana, Anna Ziegler.
Hardly any sport is as emotionally charged as football—especially women's football. It has been ridiculed, it has been banned. Even the German Football Association (DFB) wanted to protect women from this “rough sport” and, in 1955, prohibited its affiliated clubs from offering women's football, stating: “In the struggle for the ball, feminine grace is lost.” It wasn't until 1970 that the association lifted the ban. Today, women’s football is celebrated—almost everywhere in the world. Players like Megan Rapinoe from the USA have become icons, fighting for equality and against the sexualization of women's bodies. They are role models for girls and effective ambassadors for advertising. Yet, there are still major disparities compared to the men's game—whether in opportunities to play or in compensation.
In honor of the UEFA Women's EURO 2025 in Switzerland, SHE CAN KICK IT! brings women's football into visual focus: from artistic photo series by renowned photographers such as Susan Meiselas, a member of the prestigious Magnum Photos agency, to personal snapshots from national team player Laura Freigang. The exhibition explores the complex history of women's football and highlights the many challenges surrounding the topic.
Germany's Kerstin Garefrekes (18), Annike Krahn (5)
fight for the ball with Brazil's Tania (4) and Renata Costa (5)
during their final match at
the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup soccer tournament
in Shanghai, China, Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007
© AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus
Anja Niedringhaus, world-renowned for her images from war and crisis zones, photographed the jubilant women’s national football team led by captain Birgit Prinz at the FIFA Women’s World Cup 2007. Her images capture the tension, focus, and will to win felt by both teams.
Susan Meiselas
Stretch exercise before training session,
National female soccer team, San Diego, California, 1998
© Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos
In 1998, Susan Meiselas documented the training of the U.S. women’s national team in San Diego, creating a series of touching behind-the-scenes photos. Stars like Brandi Chastain and Briana Scurry, whose names are now spoken with reverence by young players, appear in these intimate settings.
Leah Williamson for British GQ, 2022
© Elliot James Kennedy
Türkiyemspor, Berlin, 2025
© Dorothea Tuch
Selfportrait, Paris, 2024
© Laura Freigang
A glimpse into the life of a current national player is offered by Laura Freigang of Eintracht Frankfurt. She always has her Leica camera with her—on the team bus, at training, or at the after-show party. Young, unconventional, and with a distinctive style, she documents her own life and that of her teammates.
Megan Rapinoe for TIME 100, 2020
© Cait Oppermann
The photographs by Cait Oppermann, who shot the U.S. women’s soccer team for the TIME Magazine cover in 2019, mark a turning point in the players’ public image—from ridiculed outsiders to international icons and role models.
For the anniversary issue of 11 Freunde magazine in 2025, Anna Ziegler portrayed the feminist and antifascist fan club Nutria Bande, which supports women’s football in Frankfurt. Personal stories from the Global South are told through the series by award-winning
From the series Women Soccer Player from the Sky, 2004
From the series Testimony for Change, Sudan, 2021
© Johanna-Maria Fritz / Agentur Ostkreuz / ARTCO Gallery
Alexa Vachon
Juhi, from the Series Wundergirl, 2017
© Alexa Vachon
German photographer Johanna-Maria Fritz, who accompanied a team in Sudan, and Alexa Vachon, who visited girls in India at home: despite social pressure, they remain devoted to their passion for football and proudly pose in their jerseys.
The world’s first women’s football team, the British Ladies, was founded in 1894 by Nettie Honeyball. Today, over 130 years later, women’s football has entered the public consciousness—yet as an emancipatory act, it remains as vital and relevant as ever.
The exhbition was curated by Nadine Barth and Katharina Mouratidi.
f³ – freiraum für fotografie
Prinzessinnenstrasse 30, 10969 Berlin
SHE CAN KICK IT! Women's Football and Photography
f³ – freiraum für fotografie, Berlin, June 27 — September 7, 2025
