1st Place Winner, Silvia Alessi (Italy). “The Cut.”
“This image is part of The Cut, a long-term project exploring hair as a symbol of control, identity, and resistance.
In Afghanistan, after the Taliban banned beauty salons, women continue working in secret. In Pakistan, the project enters a school for Afghan refugee women, where beauty practices become a fragile space of learning and self-definition.
The image portrays a young Afghan girl who fled alone to Pakistan, without her family. It reflects both her fragility and her strength, holding together vulnerability and resilience within the same body.
Through staged and documentary imagery, the work reveals the body as a contested space, where freedom is negotiated in silence.”
Women have long been marginalized in photography; there has never been a time when this was untrue. Often seen as assistants or as muses, fewer women have been lauded as the successful photographers they are. While things are slowly changing, one photography magazine has dedicated an issue to imagery related to women, both as image-makers and in how photographers portray female subjects. All About Photo (AAP) Magazine is highlighting the creativity, beauty, and resilience of women worldwide in a photo contest that comprises its 55th edition.
The AAP Magazine 55: Women features three winners alongside merit awards. Photographer Silvia Alessi took the top prize for her series titled The Cut, a long-term project that explores hair as it “symbolizes control, identity, and resistance.” It’s of particular importance in Afghanistan, where the Taliban banned beauty salons—but women continue to work in secret. The winning image features a young Afghan girl who fled to Pakistan alone. We don’t see her hair, but pinned fabric is in its place. It starts at the top of her head and cascades down her face, revealing one eye looking at us. In her hand is a pair of scissors. The visual effect makes it unnecessary to see her hair, as the fabric evokes the vulnerability and strength of this woman; she is asserting her freedom.
Women photographers are well-represented in AAP Magazine 55. The publication selected 17 women photographers alongside eight men. Both genders have composed striking images that are a tribute to women, whether that be through strict portraiture, documentary, or candid shots somewhere in between. The subjects span the world and show that the diversity of women is a strength that can’t be ignored, both in front of and behind the lens.
Scroll down to see more images in AAP Magazine 55: Women, then visit the AAP website to see all of the winners.
All About Photo (AAP) Magazine has announced the winning images of its photo contest dedicated to women, both in front of and behind the lens.
2nd Place Winner, Natalya Saprunova (France/Russia). “Ancestral heritage.”
“Galina Lazareva, 80, a renowned Evenki craftswoman, lives in a wooden house in the village of Iyengra in Yakutia, Eastern Siberia. She takes care of her great-granddaughter alone. For the child, she sewed a vest made of reindeer skin, carefully decorated with traditional embroidery—a way of passing on Evenki knowledge, craftsmanship and cultural identity to the younger generation.”
3rd Place Winner, Angelika Kollin (Estonia).
“In many African societies, women like Cynthia are the ones who hold everything together. The children, the grandchildren, the bits and pieces of daily life that would otherwise come loose. It is work that goes mostly unseen, rarely spoken of, and yet everyone depends on it. Cynthia is that kind of woman. A matriarch at the center of her family, with a quiet, calm presence that everyone feels safe around. Through her, family stays connected. Things hold.”
Merit Award, Ezio Gianni Murzi (Italy). “Child Relapse.” Carmelo Hospital, Chókwè, children’s ward.
“The anguished gaze of an HIV-positive mother looking anxiously at her HIVpositive child admitted to the pediatric ward because of relapse of AIDS.”
Merit Award, Sebastian Sardi (Sweden). “Choritra.”
“The kilns rise like silent fortresses across the plains of the Kathmandu Valley. Chimneys pierce the pale sky. The ground cracks under the sun. It is a landscape of dust and heat.
These women and girls carry the weight of up to 30 raw bricks stacked high on their backs. Barefoot or in worn sandals, they walk across scorched earth from dawn to dusk. Their hands shape thousands of bricks each day—bricks that will build houses, schools, cities, all while their own homes remain fragile.
The kilns burn constantly, fired by coal, the smoke drifts low mixing with the pink dust from the burnt bricks… coughing is common. Rest is rare.
In the Kathmandu Valley brick production feeds rapid urban expansion. For many it is the only available work. Wages are minimal, often calculated per thousand bricks, binding entire families to relentless output. Childhood blurs into labour while they carry the city on their backs—brick by brick—in a world of heat, smoke and pink dust.”
Merit Award, Justin Roque (France). “La Hytère.”
“La Hytère is the name of my maternal grandparents’ house, Marie and Albert. It has been in our family for over 200 years and overlooks the Pyrenees mountain range. My great-grandparents were farmers there; one photograph in the series bears witness to this past, showing my great-grandfather Justin with my grandmother Marie by his side. This is also where my father, Jean-Louis, and his brother, Claude, grew up. La Hytère is deeply connected to my childhood: I spent a large part of my holidays there and shared a very close bond with my grandmother.”
Merit Award, Clark James Mishler (USA). “Kaitlyn Reiley walks with her seven month old daughter, Beatrice, and her dog, Jack, near her home on a cold January day in Anchorage, Alaska, 2015.”
“I started my Portrait-a-Day project on January 1, 2010 and produced at least one unique portrait every day for the next twelve years. The first six years of my project were produced mostly in Alaska and the final six years were produced mostly in Northern California. The portrait of Kaitlyn and her daughter is typical of those I made during Alaska’s long, dark winters. My project often required that I wear many layers of warm clothes and that I bring along a light-weight reliable artificial light source that could be operated in temperatures frequently below -25 F (-32 C). I would often set out in late afternoon to begin my search for those few people who were out and about in very cold temperatures. Winter daylight was limited in the subarctic and I needed to work quickly before the last light of the day faded to complete darkness. As my project advanced, I began to realize that I was drawn to real people who had adapted to living their lives within the harsh Alaska environment. As I continued to document members of my community, I found great interest in my subject’s activities, what they were wearing and what made them exceptional. After twelve years and nearly 5000 portraits, I never ran out of new and interesting people to feature in my daily series.”
Merit Award, Alain Schroeder (Belgium). “Chains of Madness 34.”
“Pasung(in Indonesian it means chained) the shackling of people with psychosocial disabilities,has been illegal in Indonesia since 1977, yet it remains widespread, especially in rural Java. Beyond poor healthcare access and infrastructure, the main driver is stigma: mental illness is often seen as a spiritual or moral failing. Families turn to traditional healers, faith rituals, or privately run healing centers with no oversight, often staffed by untrained individuals, including former patients. Conditions are sometimes inhumane. Residents are chained in filthy, overcrowded spaces, forced to eat, sleep, and defecate within their surroundings. Some centers administer antipsychotic drugs or shock therapy with little supervision. Widespread infections, malnutrition and severe trauma are common repercussions. Real change demands not only funding, but education, compassion, and community outreach to break cycles of shame and offer dignity to those suffering.”
Merit Award, Ron Cooper (USA). “Alone in the World.”
“Nearly a century old and nearly blind, she continues to live alone in her small home in the Maramureș region of Romania. Her days follow rhythms unchanged for generations — cooking over a wood stove, tending to simple chores, and relying on the quiet kindness of neighbors and relatives. In this rural corner of Romania, community and tradition sustain those who have endured the longest.”
Merit Award, B Jane Levine (USA). “Missha.”
“This project is a series of candid portraits of strangers captured on the streets of New York City. I prefer to capture transitory scenes on the street without the knowledge of the subject so that the expression, gesture and/or movement are authentic. I go out with no expectations of subject matter other than looking for a moment, which elicits some emotion that I respond to with the subject, it is mainly driven by an internal signal that connects me to the subject or situation. I try to respect the subjects that I photograph, taking an image of a fleeting moment, which I observe with no intent other than to memorialize the scene. The resulting photograph is real for the subject as well as myself, yet it may not be a truthful representation of what actually occurred. Oftentimes, these candid images on the streets are reminders of parts of my life that are locked away within my mind or those which were simply forgotten. New York has been a place that I can wander the streets relatively inconspicuously and feel as if I am part of a bigger society. An endless search for a point of connection to anchor my world. The people in the photographs all possess a characteristic, gesture, or physical trait that I identify as part of my own story. The series is a composite of pieces of my life—a reflection of my own humanity.”
Merit Award, Cheryl Clegg (USA). “Title IX helps me do better everyday.”
“Title IX, enacted as part of the Education Amendments of 1972, transformed opportunities for girls and women by requiring equal access to education and athletics. Before its passage, female athletes often faced limited participation, fewer resources, and unequal treatment.
This portrait series explores the human impact of that change through close-up photographs of women and children of diverse races and ages who have benefited from Title IX. Each subject is photographed in close proximity, removing distraction and inviting a direct, personal encounter.
Their gaze becomes a quiet assertion of presence, confidence, and possibility.
Each portrait is paired with a personal quote, grounding the image in lived experience. These voices turn policy into story, forming a multigenerational conversation about opportunity and the lasting effects of equity.
This work reflects not only on the past fifty years of Title IX, but on the generations shaped by it and those still to come. It honors the courage of those who demanded change and the resilience of those who continue to expand its promise.”
Merit Award, Jelisa Peterson (USA). “At Her Window.”
“While exploring a beautiful rural area (Andilada) in the island of Nosy Be, Madagascar, I was struck by the true friendliness and hospitality of the people there. During a series of afternoons I spent in a particular village meeting people, I felt such a captivating connection with them. Even with the help of a superb local guide to translate and introduce me around, I experienced a genuine sense of affinity with the villagers that needed few words. The woman’s expression and energy as represented in my image ‘At Her Window’ visually represent our mutual feelings of comfort and bond.”
Merit Award, Beth Stahn (USA). “Grandma’s Jello.”
“Grandma’s Jello shows a woman in jadeite green, gazing upward over a table of meticulously arranged retro gelatin dishes. The monochrome palette and uncanny styling turn nostalgic home life into something unsettling.”
Merit Award, Mandy Ross (UK). “Aghori Mata.”
“I spent a couple of hours with this aghori in a small temple in Varanasi.”
Merit Award, Somenath Mukhopadhyay (India). “Colorful Burden.”
This photograph is a part of my series that I attempted to debunk the apparently colorful world of women who are burdened with the stress of water round the clock. These staged photos are a part of a bigger and deeper narrative, representing their daily life, health, uphill challenges and wish for freedom. Shot in a mine of China Clay (kaolin), which is considered to be one of the most hydrophilic substances, these photographs bring a strong parallel to the women’s urge for water. They live and die with this urge, and water is a mirage they live every passing day. The colorful plastic containers atop their heads are a symbol of the burden they are pleasantly adorned with. In fact water has made compromise the gender identity.”