Emergence began as a collection of portraits of women friends and became a feminist statement of the 1970s. Steven Kasher of New York Kasher Gallery said:“This work is pertinent because we want to see what these amazing women looked like when they were in their prime, shaking things up. The spirit of that struggle is in the pictures. Cynthia captures them boldly, without trying to be complex or intellectual.” In her artist’s statement for the book, MacAdams said: “I looked for women….. who had strength and softness in their eyes and a directness in the way they dealt with their life.” Some of the "second-wave" feminists who are presented in the book include: Judy Chicago, Michelle Phillips, Gloria Steinem, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Phyllis Chesler, Laurie Anderson and Meredith Monk. In 1978 MacAdams began her study of the female nude using black and white and infrared film. In 1983 Rising Goddess was published. As Kate Millett says in her preface: "Books of the female nude by women photographers are rare enough. And therefore, the integrity and self- sufficient character of these women, their strength. For the strength is unmistakable; it is what strikes one first. They are utterly unafraid, unashamed.” MacAdams had a studio loft overlooking the Bowery from 1978 to 2011. She photographed life on the streets of the Bowery; including the architecture with the people. Portrayed were punk rockers at CBGB, artists and poets such as William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Mapplethorpe, and Anne Waldman. She documented the lives of the men and women living on the streets, in their cars, and in homeless shelters. Her work documents the gentrification of the area over time. MacAdams also explored forms of sacred architecture in portfolios of Egypt, Tibet, Angkor Wat, Indian Temples, Celtic and Mayan ruins. As with the nudes, MacAdams shot in black and white and infrared film. Mayan Vision Quest was published in 1991. In 2018 Netflix released an original documentary film called "Feminists: What Were They Thinking?" using MacAdams photographic book Emergence, which featured portraits of women who were instrumental in the struggle for Women's Rights beginning in the 1970s , as the cornerstone of the narrative. Photography books Mayan Vision Quest, Harper Collins 1991 Nude Photography, Amphoto 1985 Rising Goddess, Morgan & Morgan 1983 Emergence, Chelsea House 1977 References External links 1939 births Living people Artist authors People from Webster, South Dakota Northwestern University alumni