LSI Announces 2024 Women in Photography Grant Recipient
Leica Society International (LSI) is proud to announce its second annual Women in Photography Grant recipient for 2024 -Ana Elisa Sotelo
This grant of $10,000 is made possible through the LSI Philanthropy Fund and in partnership with Leica North America. In addition to the financial award, Sotelo will receive a new Leica Q3 camera, courtesy of Leica NA. LSI is committed to supporting the photography community, especially the voices of under-represented, deserving photographers.
Congratulations to Ana Elisa Sotelo! - LSI’s 2024 Women in Photography Grant Recipient!
Ana Elisa Sotelo
Ana Elisa Sotelo is a Peruvian visual artist and educator. Her work focuses on gender, culture and our relationship to the natural world. Through her images she looks to change the way we perceive strength and femininity. Ana has received awards from Picture of the Year (POY) LATAM, International Women in Photo Award (IWPA), Women Photograph and grants from the National Geographic Society COVID-19 Reporting Grant, Women Photograph Grant, and the Center for Environmental Filmmaking among other awards and recognitions.
Her work has been published in magazines, print and digital media such as; National Geographic Magazine, The New York Times, El Comercio, El Mercurio, Vogue, Folha São Paulo, Outdoor Swimmer among others. Her work has been exhibited in Lima, Paris, Geneva, Tokyo, Dubai, Washington D.C. among others. Ana holds an M.A. in Film (American University) and B.A. in Psychology (the George Washington University) and is a member of Women Photograph, Diversify Photo and Foto Féminas. She is currently based in Washington, D.C where she teaches highschool Photography and Photojournalism.
Women of the Water is a documentary project that uses photography to encourage women to celebrate sisterhood, solidarity and liberation in open waters. Exploring the intersection between activism and art, for this project Sotelo invited communities of women to collectively bathe naked in rivers, lakes or the sea. These collective nude installations serve as a way for women to express their individual and collective freedom, as well as celebrate their connection to the water. Additionally, the images and performance look to challenge the patriarchal dominance over women's bodies and over the natural world. The series originated in 2022 in Puerto Natales, Chile, one of the southernmost locations on Earth, when three women asked Sotelo to photograph them in their most natural state and the place where they felt the most powerful: the water. The project has since grown, expanding to other bodies of water in Chile, Peru, and The United States, and hundreds of women have participated. In Women of the Water, nudity is used as a way to express power and liberation, and the visuals serve to prompt reflections on body freedom, women's rights, and confront machismo culture. Additionally, the encounters have provided an opportunity for women to connect and advocate for each other in locations where gender violence is extremely prevalent. At this stage of her project Sotelo would like to continue creating photographs in other bodies of water in North America.
Below are a few images from Women of the Water.
