Anna Boyiazis is an American documentary photographer and a National Geographic Society grantee based between Southern California and East Africa. Her work focuses on human rights, with an emphasis on the rights of women and girls. Her ongoing project “Finding Freedom in the Water” (featured on WePresent as part of our collaboration with World Press Photo) captures, for the first time, the story of the local women in the Zanzibar Archipelago (an area surrounded by water) learning to swim, which they’ve previously been discouraged from doing. The project has been nominated for and awarded numerous accolades, including being a 2019 Prix Pictet Nominee, and the recipient of the 2021 Leica Woman Foto Project Award, the 2018 Peace Image of the Year Award, a 2018 Pictures of the Year International Award of Excellence, and a 2018 Women Photograph + Nikon Grant.
