This week we’re sharing work from our 2023 mentorship cohort! For six years, we have paired a group of dedicated young photographers from all over the world with industry leaders. This year, our cohort received project grants to help finance their work.
This year’s program was made possible thanks to Leica USA, as well as Adobe for providing our mentees with a year-long license to their editing suite!
MAUREEN GATHONI
Kenya | @maureenwild_
Women in the Wild is a photo project that showcases the contribution of women in conservation with a key force on Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Kenya. This project is heavily inspired by my mother who was the first female ranger and radio operator at the conservancy.
Maureen Gathoni is a photographer and climate activist from Laikipia, Kenya. Through her images, she seeks to document conservation efforts and educate people about the need for conservation and inspire the next generation of conservationists.
JUDITH CRICO
France | @judithcrico | judithcrico.com
When a person comes into conflict with the law, the world of their loved ones undergoes upheavals impacting several areas of their lives, whether financial, emotional and stigmatizing burdens which these families must face. Don’t Worry About Me is articulated as a poem, visiting men and women who are locked outside and surrounded by invisible walls.
Judith Crico is a French photographer exploring the notions of identity and collective memory, focusing on marginalized communities and their resilience in facing hardship.
RENATA MONTENEGRO
Mexico | @rennata_mg | renatamontenegro.com
"Home for a zopilote*” is a photo project made in collaboration with other women from her community about the practices of witchcraft, using Mariana's testimony as a starting point: a woman from Mexico City who found in witchcraft as a way of survival, after 10 years of domestic violence crisis, this project explores the collective imaginary of witchcraft as a space where resistance, desire and longing come from the magical.
Renata Montenegro is a photographer, based in Mexico City, who explores stories that originate from a personal place, allowing her to deepen in the perception and construction of collective and individual identity.
AZIZIAH DIAH APRILYA
Indonesia | @aziziahprilya | aziziahprilya.com
Mattude is a collecting-clams practice that passed down by coastal women in Mariso, an area in the west coast of Makassar, Indonesia. This practice has slowly disappeared since massive reclamation occurred on the coast.
Aziziah Diah Aprilya is a photographer and researcher based in Makassar, Indonesia.
ALLIE COLLIER
USA | @alliecollierstudio | allielcollier.com
This project, "Mother of All Living Things," comes from Genesis 3:20, a Bible verse in which Adam names his wife "Eve" effectively crowning her as the caretaker and mother of "all living." In the American evangelical tradition, specifically in the Baptist tradition, girls are taught from a young age about their pending fates as a mother and a tool for men's personal growth and benefit. Deep in Trump country, this ideology prevails. I am deconstructing my so-called evangelical “role” as a woman, and through photographing people and places that I love in my hometown of Tennessee, I wonder what this means for them.
Allie Collier is a photographer and writer from Nashville, Tennessee currently residing in Richmond, VA.