Earlier this month, a group of students, teachers and community members gathered in the upstairs room of Thorndike Library at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. They were there to discuss “Women and War,” a collection of photographs taken by seven women who are photojournalists and artists. Four live in Maine: Maggie Foskett of Camden, Judith Ellis Glickman of Cape Elizabeth, Barbara Goodbody of Cumberland Foreside and Katarina Weslien of Portland. All of the works in the show were taken during or inspired by war or its aftermath. One photo is of a bandaged Iraqi girl in an emergency room. Another is of a woman, cloaked in a black abaya, examining exhumed human remains wrapped in white cloth. There is an abandoned train station in Nazi Germany, bombed out urban scenes in Sarajevo, and a digital close-up of the eyes of Mohammad Atta, one of the Sept. 11 terrorists, with the phrase “I love Mohammad and Mohammad loves me” superimposed repeatedly over the image.

The audience at COA was concerned mostly with determining if the works had some quality that reflects a woman’s sensibility.

“These are not photographs men would take, and that’s what’s exciting about this show,” said a woman in the audience.

“I think one of the primary expressions of woman is the mother,” another woman added. “But not all mothering behavior is associated with females. All of these photos have love in them.”

A wedding photographer said: “Female photographers are more intuitive.”

“These show that it’s not just on the battlefield that these issues are fought,” said a student, motioning toward an image of a girl watching a soldier drink tea. “These issues are really nuanced in very complex ways. War is a broader topic than our society gives it credit for.”

But what would that be? Children in torn clothes? Empty buildings? A burial site? A woman rushing to get rationed food? Surely, men see these elements of war, too.

“There is no one woman’s point of view,” assured Anne Zill, the show’s curator. “There are seven women and seven points of view. But having said that, there are a few qualities that one might not see in a show comprised of male photographers. These are photographers who show the human side of war and have a feel for the unintended consequences. It’s not that male photographers don’t show this, but it is what these photos show. Yes, I suppose it’s dangerous to think that way. I don’t mean it to be dangerous. After all, these are qualities that can be embraced by men and often are.”

Zill, who is director of the art gallery at the University of New England, decided to feature women’s work on war to fill in gaps of representation. The show has also been exhibited in Washington, D.C.

“I don’t think women are seen as leaders in any society on our planet,” she said. “We ought to be more obvious in all our endeavors. Our country, our world isn’t going to be whole until that happens. If we had more women in positions of power, women who dared to be different, then there might be acceptance of a different set of values embodied in leadership. It’s interesting to have women’s takes in general. The artistic impulse of women on war is interesting to look at.”

“In some ways, I feel these pictures are more aesthetic than gruesome,” said a woman with a European accent. “So they protect us.”

“Maybe women don’t do gruesome as much as men,” said Zill.

Women photographing war scenes is nothing new, of course. In World War II, women photographers fought for military credentials to focus their lenses on the war. Dorothea Lange, Esther Bubley, Therese Bonney, Toni Frissell and Margaret Bourke White were among more than 120 American women who depicted scenes from that war zone as well as its aftermath. Other women photographers – Susan Meiselas in Nicaragua and the many news photographers currently in Iraq – have fearlessly carried on the tradition.

“I think women have something to say in this arena against the backdrop of our country’s behavior,” said Zill.

A student from Africa want to know exactly what she meant. “Can someone help me understand why these points of view are women’s?” he asked.

“It’s about what women tend to think about, the things a woman deals with every day that men might not pay attention to,” another man proposed.

“A quivering vulnerability,” said Zill, referring to a work called “Wound” by Maggie Foskett. It depicts a red blotch that looks like a blood stain.

Still, she had to admit, the definitions were general, difficult and inconclusive.

“Are women different from men? What are women saying about wars? It’s good to talk about it now since we’re engaged in a protracted and unsavory war,” said Zill.

Leslie Fratkin, one of the photographers, agreed that she was shooting from a woman’s perspective -how couldn’t she? – but categorized her photographs of the former Yugoslavia as having more to say about being an outsider than being a woman. Her works are the urban shots of empty streets, lonesome remnants of life and the residual shadows of conflict. “My photographs are clearly taken from the perspective of a person who doesn’t feel connected to the place,” she said in a phone conversation from her home in New York City.

In an online statement from her Web site, Fratkin defines her work more broadly. She doesn’t mention that she is a woman: “I believe very strongly that what makes a photographer great is not a bag full of expensive equipment or an art school degree in theories of light – a great photographer pays attention to everything he or she sees, hears, and feels.

“The most important thing is to open your eyes and your heart and to allow yourself to imagine what it feels like to be the person you’re making photographs about. The very worst thing you can do is hold yourself back. Passion – be it for an idea or for people or a place – is a gift. It’s the most valuable tool any photographer can have.”

Back at the library, a man in the audience was curious about another aspect of the photographs in the exhibition. What he liked about the show, he said, was that the photographers – no matter what their gender – deal with the consequences of war.

“It makes me wonder,” he continued, “if it would be possible to mount a show that deals with the causes.”

“Women and War” will be shown through Jan. 5 in Thorndike Library at the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. For more information, call 288-5015. Alicia Anstead can be reached at 990-8266 and aanstead@bangordailynews.net.