In honor of International Women’s Day, Leica announced the winners of the second edition of the Leica Women Foto Project, an ongoing commitment to diversity in visual storytelling to help strengthen the female perspective through photography.

This year’s three winners are Matika Wilbur, Karen Zusman and Anna Boyiazis. They were selected by a diverse jury ranging from award-winning photojournalists to renowned contributors from the world of photography.

Matika Wilbur, acclaimed photographer and social documentary filmmaker with Tulalip & Swinomish Pacific Northwest, has submitted a visual account of tribal sovereignty in the United States that she calls Project 562. The goal of the project was to “change the way we see the culture of native Americans”.

Photo by Matika Wilbur

Photo by Matika Wilbur

Anna Boyiazis is a documentary photographer based in Southern California and East Africa whose areas of interest include human rights, public health, and women and girls’ issues.
“Finding Freedom in the Water” is a series that documents women and girls in Zanzibar learning to swim, which she describes as “an act of emancipation in an ultra-conservative region where such an act is in conflict with patriarchal and religious norms”.

Photo by Anna Boyiazis

Photo by Anna Boyiazis

Photo by Anna Boyiazis

Karen Zusman is a New York-based photographer who began her career as a journalist documenting human trafficking in Malaysia. She spent the last few years making more than 20 trips to Cuba for a book project when the pandemic struck, forcing her to stop her travels. As she spent more time at home, the inspiration for her winning photo series, “The Super Power of Me Project”, was born.

Photo by Karen Zusman

Photo by Karen Zusman