Ana Elisa Sotelo: Prize-winning photography, nature as a co-creator, and de-colonizing exploitative relationships with the female body

Ana Elisa Sotelo is a Peruvian photographer and educator whose work explores gender, culture, and the human relationship with the natural world. Her work often merges art with activism, creating collaborative projects that amplify collective voices and experiences. Ana was born in Lima, Peru and was raised in Bolivia, Mexico, USA, Chile and Argentina. She is currently based in Washington DC, where she teaches Photography and Photojournalism.Blending photography with participatory practice, Ana’s work challenges extractive relationships to both land and the female body. Her series Women of the Water, is an ongoing project that explores female liberty and liberation through collective action in open waters. Convened through open calls, Ana invites women to gather in the rivers, lakes, and seas of their communities to reclaim their bodies and territory. Ana’s interdisciplinary collaborations, including her work with Shipibo-Konibo artist Sadith Silvano, bring together photography and ancestral artistic traditions such as Kené embroidery to explore the visible and invisible ties between people, place, and Amazonian ecosystems.Her work has been exhibited internationally and her images have been published in National Geographic, The New York Times, Vogue, Ladera Sur, Gatopardo Magazine, El Comercio/Somos, Folha Sao Paulo, The Washington Post, American Ai-Ap, among others.https://www.anaelisasotelo.com/ Get full access to COLLECTIVE CREATIONS at collectivecreations.substack.com/subscribe