During the few years I was the newspaper’s picture editor, and after, I was lucky enough to be a witness to some of the gradual but potent change they brought. I saw firsthand the difference a more diverse staff made in coverage, saw how the definition of news widened, how tired themes were refreshed and viewpoints shifted, how people who might once have been overlooked became the subjects of compelling photographs.

Each woman contributed in her way, drawing on her background, experiences and interests, which were sometimes akin to those of the other women and sometimes vastly different. So the pictures they produced are as individual as they are.

Because the work of these and other talented women has now been published over the course of many years, it’s easy to forget that there was a time when their styles and choices were startling for the pages of The Times, when pictures were chosen more to illustrate than to expand understanding. Now is our chance to remind ourselves, or to discover, how Times photojournalism changed when women added their strengths. Welcome back to the revolution.

— Carolyn Lee

Carolyn Lee worked at The New York Times for 25 years. She was the first woman to run the paper’s photo department and later the first woman on the news masthead. She retired in 2003.