Amanda de Cadenet’s creative network connects female and nonbinary talent with big brands

What began several years ago as #girlgaze, a social media call to arms for photo and video portraits of women made by female-identifying visual artists, has become something new: a full-blown talent network of more than 200,000 female and nonbinary photographers, directors, writers, and other creatives. The platform connects them with companies such as Dove and Warby Parker, and has provided members with more than 2,500 gigs since 2016. In May, founder Amanda de Cadenet launched a subscription model that provides brands and other hiring parties with direct access to the talent on the platform—a potential boon for marginalized artists during challenging economic times. “I’m interested in the stories [women and nonbinary] people have to tell, because of my own experience of being shut out of so many creative opportunities because of my gender,” says de Cadenet, who has photographed celebrities for magazines such as Vogue and Spin, and hosted Lifetime’s 2012 series The Conversation With Amanda de Cadenet.