In honor of International Women’s Day, we invited our talented photographers to showcase their images capturing the essence of womanhood and the spirit of IWD. Here are their remarkable submissions!
For International Women’s Day, we’re delighted to feature the work of some of our incredible women photographers in the Cherrydeck community, who bring their authentic and diverse perspectives on what it means to be a woman. They have generously shared images captured by them and their personal reflections.
From conceptual self-portraits to documentary shots, their thoughtful submissions capture the spectrum of female experiences – from moments of joy to impactful narratives that reflect the challenges and triumphs of womanhood in today’s society.
Scroll to discover their inspiring work! Featured in this article:
- Polina Lewin
- Sophie Lickiss
- Anita Goncalves
- Rosane Viotti
- Erina Bogoeva
- Serah Boom
- Mariia Korotyshova
- Diana Budacu
- Svetlana Jovanovic
- Julia Severinsen
- Heidi Cavazos
- Natacha Gonzalez
- Ekaterina Koposova
- Augusta Sagnelli
- Shahin Hefter
- Karyna Kadihrob
- Sara Furceri
- Jaqueline Larsen
- Alona Kulyzka
- Yanina Demkovych
- Camille Milin
- Susanne Sudol
- Kaska Jankiewicz
- Emily-Jayne Nolan
- Valeria Gordienko
- Mariya Tatarnikova
- Elena Lazonga
- Pia Lacher
Polina Lewin
“This work is about sisterhood, true female intimacy, friendship, and love. We are all sisters to each other. Women should support each other.”
Polina is a photographer who has a lot of experience in conveying important feelings through the lens. “I photograph everything that has to do with love. I know how to capture tenderness, support, unity.”
Sophie Lickiss
We wanted to explore womanhood within – normally – a masculine dominant sport. We wanted to style with a feminine touch, shot softly with digital and film.
Sophia Lickiss is a photographer from Manchester, working mainly with models and sports personalities in a commercial setting. “One of my favourite parts of my job is working with women who excel in male-dominated fields.”
Anita Gonçalves
I spent a month on the island of São Tomé as part of a project called Soma, which aims to support women in the Santana community through surf therapy and empowerment. During this time, I documented our daily lives, the community, and the project itself.
Anita Gonçalves is a photographer based in Portugal. Passionate about travel, culture, and humankind. Through color and detail, she creates visual narratives mixing different genres of fashion, still life, and documentary photography.
Rosane Viotti
These videos reflect the life I love to live—surrounded by my soul sisters and the brave women I’ve had the privilege to photograph over the past couple of years.
“The first video shows me and my friends just soaking up the simple joys of life: nature, friendship, and good times. The second is a compilation of all the amazing women I’ve had the pleasure of working with, featuring short scenes from various shoots. I have photos of all of those days.”
Rosane is a surfer, nature lover, beach addict, photographer and videographer. She loves to capture special moments that make life magical. She is inspired by the sunlight and the ocean and loves smiles, a light fun environment, and people.
Erina Bogoeva
“As a cis woman, I know what womanhood meant to me my whole life. However, I had the pleasure of getting to know (and photograph) trans women during the past few years, and hearing their stories about what womanhood meant to them gave me a whole new dimension.
Their struggle to accept and be accepted into womanhood gave me greater means to cherish something I had taken for granted my whole life. That is why I am submitting the portraits of those trans women as inspiration that womanhood has so many layers, and even though we may have lived and enjoyed it our whole lives, there are still new ways to cherish and celebrate it.”
Erina Bogoeva is a self-taught, Skopje-based photographer and photography teacher. She has done seven independent photography exhibitions in North Macedonia and many group ones as well – the most prominent one being her feature in Vogue’s 2021 Milan exhibition. “I mainly focus on portrait and architecture photography, even though I don’t like to pigeonhole creativity.”
Serah Boom
“The photograph I’m submitting is a powerful tribute to the unique intersection of East African heritage and Omani landscapes, highlighting the strength, grace, and unity of women from diverse backgrounds.”
As we celebrate Women’s Day, this photograph serves as a reminder that womanhood transcends geographical boundaries, connecting hearts and spirits across continents, and inspiring a collective journey toward a future where women’s voices and contributions are celebrated and cherished worldwide.
Raised in the early 90s, between Libya, UK, and Poland, currently based in Barcelona, Serah Boom is a multifaceted artist, whose practice includes mainly photography and filmmaking. However, she also navigates through sound, textiles, and any media that allows her to get her vision across cultures. The name “boom” is a result of the culturally diverse upbringing and the challenges that it entails. By choosing to be called by what originally was a stigma, she reappropriates its meaning to combat stereotypical representation and repressive ideologies. Through the tools she carries as a creative and critical-thinking mind, she aims to address difficult questions and reach beyond society’s norms to create new narratives within surrounding communities of the diaspora and beyond.
Mariia Korotyshova
“These photos were created for an editorial that celebrates the natural, delicate beauty of a woman.”
Women are my inspiration – their beauty, liberation, and their new struggles of the modern world are my constant themes in photography
Mariia Korotyshova is a professional fashion photographer based in Madrid.
Diana Budacu
They are proof that women can be such a powerful force when they come together and express themselves through their friendship and style.
“It all started with a story on Instagram with a bunch of gorgeous girls and me being super impulsive saying: “Bring them all together, and we will have a photoshoot.” Olga was as crazy as me and said yes right away. And guess what? The other girls were even crazier for accepting. I was going into a little panic because I had no idea what I was going to create. But I followed my instincts all the way through. The theme was ” GROOVY 90S ” which is a combination of the soul and colors of the hippie era and the powerhouse that the 90s was for fashion and beauty.
I knew the girls were living their lives in that grunge fashion style and I wanted to bring it to life. They are this group of girls, all friends with each other, sharing the same style, and in love with each other as their bond is so strong. They are proof that women can be such a powerful force when they come together and express themselves through their friendship and style. Together with these girls, my assistant Viva, no make-up artist, no hairstylist, no stylist we created this editorial photoshoot. Here we are, a bunch of low-budget girls creating one of my favorite photoshoots.”
Diana Budacu is a self-taught photographer from Bucharest, Romania. “I live my life to teleport people into a world that I create for them or we create together, breaking the pattern of traditional photography through color and attitude. Passion is just the bonus of being a photographer. In love with beauty!”
Svetlana Jovanovic
‘Heroines’ series is a collection of staged female portraits that are moments within a larger imagined narrative. I aim to capture the raw power of my subjects while also portraying their vulnerability, showcasing the complexities of femininity and female representation. My goal is to create compelling portraits that empower women to see themselves as the leading characters in their own lives.
I invite viewers to explore the intricacies of the human experience and gain a deeper understanding of what it means to be a woman in today’s world.
Svetlana Jovanovic is a Dutch national with roots in Belgrade, Serbia. After completing a degree in Psychology, she relocated to the Netherlands over twenty years ago to work at the UN war crimes court. Subsequently, she spent seven years living and working as a photographer in New York City before returning to the Netherlands, where she is currently based.
Julia Severinsen
Classical music has gone from being 100% male-dominated to now, where roughly 30-40% are women. These are some of my portraits of classical musicians who are women.
Julia Severinsen is a photographer based in Copenhagen, her photography is mostly concentrated around classical music which she has a big passion for.
Heidi Cavazos
“In the shadows of oneself, we can find the truth of who we really are. ‘Open Again’ is an editorial in which women embrace their shadow selves, and their past experiences and find themselves by looking inward. This project is full of symbolism and uses fashion as a tool of expression and empowerment.??
This editorial seeks to express the necessary journey within oneself to embrace all of who we are and to not be afraid of the shadows. Remain open to life even when it gets dark because then, is when we most grow to see and be light.”
Heidi Cavazos is a 24-year-old photographer from Mexico. “I work mostly based on the connection I feel with the person or object I photograph. I like capturing my reality in a tangible way.”
Natacha Gonzalez
“My series “Solos” examines the solitude of residential living and the evolving lifestyles of a generation of urban women, in an era of changing family structures.
Initially, I was convinced that the thirties were the perfect time to be in a relationship, marking an end to the romantic indecisions of the twenties and a beginning to serious life or family plans. My own path, however, contradicted this assumption. This led me to question if my experience was an anomaly by seeking out other women “like me.”
“In the process, I discovered that many women in my social circle, who were in their thirties, city-dwellers, financially independent, and thriving in various aspects of their lives, were in similar situations.
The photographic sessions were fueled by a desire to capture them in their homes, places rich in personal narratives, choices, and a testament to their autonomy. Another driving force was the desire to converse with each of them about their journeys and the stories that led them to live alone.”
Our commonality: we had all diverged from the traditional path of marriage or cohabitation. Nevertheless, each encounter exposed the depth of personal stories and the complex nature of romantic relationships today.
Natacha Gonzalez was born in Barbados, she is a self-taught freelance photographer living and working in Paris, focusing primarily on portraiture. She undertakes commissions for institutional clients and also engages in personal artistic projects. She has collaborated with renowned corporations, film productions, television channels, and publications. “My personal work is both introspective and societal. Beginning with a series of self-portraits during the first lockdown, I have continued to explore staged portraits of women living alone.”
Ekaterina Koposova
We are so different, yet we are together. We are so similar, yet we are all so unique. We are women.
Ekaterina Koposova is an Austria-based freelance filmmaker and photographer, focusing on shooting brands/companies and people. “In my creative independent projects, I try to reflect topics that are interesting and important to me such as spirituality and esotericism, philosophy, ecology, and freedom.”
Augusta Sagnelli
A big part of my work is taking “Body Celebration” portraits for women who need to reclaim their inner and outer beauty. Seeing our bodies captured as art is an extremely powerful way to reframe how we see and appreciate our physical selves. These images are some of my most recent from those sessions.
Augusta Sagnelli is an American photographer living and working in Paris, France. “I have shifted my focus towards portraiture and more artistic outlets that highlight real individuals as my subjects.”
Shahin Hefter
These pictures are an excerpt of my editorial ‘FORM’. Society tries to fit women into several shapes and sizes. They outgrow them. They expand. Eventually the choking hand around their necks becomes to weak. They will start to breathe again.
Shahin Hefter is a photographer from Germany. Her photography revolves around fashion, surrealism, and questioning gender norms. She always loved the weird and uncomfortable feelings that art can awaken and aims to contribute to that.
Karyna Kadihrob
A couple of years ago, it was the norm to greet women on March 8 with the wish “to be a decoration of the team.”
This is a humiliating comparison of a woman’s personality to a thing, to a bouquet of flowers. With my shooting, I explore this topic, drawing a clear line between what it means to be a flower and what it means to be a woman.”
Ukrainian fashion photographer, Karyna Kadihrob, works in Kyiv and Lviv. Upon taking a camera for the first time in 2018, she realized she wanted to do photography. A few years later, she left medical university to start a career as a fashion photographer. She does both commercial photography and creative projects. “A special place in her work is dedicated to the exploration and interpretation of femininity aspects.”
Sara Furceri
Through these shots I would like to convey every single emotion. I decided to have the subject wear a shirt, to communicate how difficult it can be to show one’s body, for fear of being judged
Sara Furceri is a young girl from the Sicilian hinterland. A job was born from a passion. As a child she shot here and there with a compact camera, as she grew up she tried to convey all her emotions through a shot. She seeks reality in all its imperfections.
Jaqueline Larsen
“This series depicts my closest friends from my hometown, Necochea (Argentina), in their new role (to me) of mothers with their respective children. After being four years away from my country, I returned to realize that all of them became mothers, unlike me.”
“Necochea – a small town in the south of Buenos Aires, on the Atlantic coast of Argentina – is pretty static, it hasn’t changed in many years, and you can see the buildings’ decay. It has wide beaches and an important port as it is located at the mouth of the Quequén Grande River and the Argentine Sea. I have always had a love/hate relationship with Necochea and eventually decided that it was best for my personal growth and career to leave town, as many young people do. But the rest of my childhood friends stayed and built their lives there, quickly becoming workers and then mothers.”
This project aims to put into perspective and to reflect how women in certain territories are conditioned to fulfill certain standards of what adult life should be. Through these images, I try to get a bit closer to this stage of many women’s lives, which has always terrified me, and document how the female body changes and adapts to this new role. It is also a tribute to my hometown, which has always generated mixed feelings in me.”
Jaqueline Larsen is a visual artist and photographer. Her background in fine arts gives her photography great sensitivity, both in commercial work and in personal projects with a documentary approach. She portrays mostly women but also finds beauty in landscape and still life. Through her work, she researches the concept of identity, the territory, the body, and its relationship with the environment, from a poetic and symbolic perspective. “My projects are usually self-referential, working from personal experiences or people in my immediate environment. I use photography as a means to represent sensitive topics that touch me closely and give them visibility. In this way, I seek to create complicity with the viewer.”
Alona Kulyzka
In these photos, I want to show that a woman’s beauty lies in her naturalness, harmony with herself, and with nature. In reality, what truly embellishes women is their own sense of pleasure from themselves and life as a whole. And to me, such a woman will always be a “precious adornment” in any part of the world, surroundings, or photographs.
I would be happy if these photos inspire at least one girl to discover her feminine nature, love, and accept herself.
Alona Kulyzka is a photographer from Ukraine living in Germany, with 7 years of experience. She adores getting to know people, observing their expressions, and capturing those moments in photographs. For her, photography is more than just a souvenir photo. It’s a tool that helps reveal a person, show them what they haven’t seen in themselves before, and bring them closer to their best version. “Over the past few years, I’ve been taking many psychology courses myself. And when I underwent my own transformation, this experience helped me to understand and photograph people much deeper.”
Yanina Demkovych
‘To Be a Woman’ is a photography project that explores the multifaceted nature of womanhood.
Each photograph offers a unique perspective on the essence of womanhood, prompting viewers to contemplate the diversity of female experiences and identities. Inspired by the interconnectedness between women and nature, as well as the idea of empowerment through self-expression,
“‘To Be a Woman’ aims to challenge societal norms and stereotypes surrounding femininity and the female body.
Through capturing moments of vulnerability, confidence, and self-discovery, the project delves into the complexities of women’s lived experiences. With a focus on the exploration of the body and its forms, particularly in the context of nude photography,
‘To Be a Woman’ seeks to celebrate the beauty and complexity of women’s physicality.”
Yanina Demkovych is a photographer based in Lviv, Ukraine, passionate about capturing the essence of femininity and celebrating women’s strength and beauty. With a Master’s degree in Art Restoration from Lviv Academy of Arts, she brings a unique perspective to her work. “Through photography, I explore various forms of expression, delving into themes of female empowerment, connection with nature, and the breaking of societal norms.” Her goal is to challenge conventional perceptions of women and inspire viewers to see beyond boundaries. Currently, she specializes in feminine portraits and nude photography, aiming to create evocative images that resonate with the viewer on a deeper level.
Camille Milin
“This series represents the same woman, highlighted in 3 different worlds. I wanted to create powerful portraits, where the woman is the queen of the paint. Each time we can see different emotions and personalities that the viewer is free to interpret. My point was to show that the same woman can have different faces, and regarding the paint – she embodies it to perfection.”
I want to celebrate the beauty of every woman, of the deepest parts of them and all their shades. Every woman has a lot of faces, some we call light and others dark, but to me, we can find beauty in every part
Camille Milin is a French artist photographer, who loves to highlight women regardless of their age, weight, or origin. “I see my work as a painting, I like to imagine a world and put it into reality.” She uses her art to highlight women.
Susanne Sudol
“These pictures are from my travel to the island of Koh Phangan, Thailand where women created a group to support each other, (re)discover self-love, and protect each other from dangerous men who often find their way to this island because it is known for its spiritual and tantric community.”
I was touched by their open vulnerability and their love for each other, everyone is welcome and they hold space for each other no matter how hard the storm will be.
Susanne Sudol is a passionate photographer and social worker from Berlin. Her psychosocial work influences her photography and vice versa. “I catch the atmospheres in between and create feelings of nostalgia and melancholia.”
Kaska Jankiewicz
“This work is part of my series ‘Rather sad photographic sketches about Poland’. The Warsaw Mermaid comes from a mythical figure who, according to legend, was supposed to protect the city and its inhabitants. Armed with a shield and a sword, the Vistula River mermaid became a sign of vigilance and readiness to defend.”
“My series began in reaction to the homophobic, misogynistic, and xenophobic statements and actions implemented by the populist government. In 2020, the alleged Constitutional Court, at the government’s direction, pushed through a change in abortion law from restrictive to an almost total abortion ban. Several women in Poland died in hospital as a result of this law, which made doctors afraid to treat young women whose pregnancies were life-threatening. When the women of Poland took to the streets in mass protests, they were met with tear gas and non-uniformed police officers wielding telescopic batons. 82 police cars and around 600 police officers guarded security in front of one man’s house – head of the ruling party – during the Women’s Strike protest. People taking part in peaceful protests were armed with cardboard banners bearing anti-government slogans. The populist government lost power at the end of 2023, thanks largely to the huge turnout and women’s votes. Women are keeping an eye on the new government in anticipation of changes in the law.”
Kaska Jankiewicz is a photographer, art director and content creator based in Berlin. She focuses on portraits, still life and sustainable fashion. Ka?ka works using a big variety of cameras. As an art director she deals with the complex process of campaign production, combining fashion photography with art and graphic design to create unique visual stories.
Emily-Jayne Nolan
I love shooting with women, including having teams of all non-male crew. I think as a woman myself there’s always that ease on a shoot and I feel like I create photos where you can see the person is at ease and calm. I love that we can bring that energy out of each other.
Emilia-Jayne Nolan is an empathetic portrait photographer, focusing on portraiture and storytelling within the commercial and documentary space.
Valeria Gordienko
The ‘Closeness’ series aligns with the spirit of Women’s Day by highlighting the bonds that women share and the strength they derive from each other. It offers a visual narrative that celebrates the resilience, beauty, and complexity of womanhood, contributing a unique and meaningful perspective to the discourse on this significant day.
Valeria Gordienko is a Hamburg-based photographer specializing in fashion photography, model tests, shooting for brands, e-commerce, and private clients. She has worked with renowned brands and magazines.
Mariya Tatarnikova
This project is called ‘Perfect’. It tells the story of the perfection of a woman’s body in comparison to flowers.
Mariya Tatarnikova is a London-based art director and photographer specializing in photography via fine art and fashion lenses.
Elena Lazonga
Nature is my guide in photography and women are my muse. I believe and see that nature give woman unlimited power, so I shoot them in nature to open and return their strength into the body. To show how beautiful and enjoyable women are.
Elena Lazonga is a photographer, healer, and muse from Belarus, currently based in Goa, India. “I use my power, talents, and god gifts to reconnect people to nature and their higher self to become whole. This fills life with joy and gratitude for everyone who participates.”
Pia Lacher
I love showing strong girls, as I sometimes wish someone saw me like that when I was little. Lisa is not even into fighting but had a lot of fun shooting this pictures and feeling like a real warrior.
Pia Lacher is an Up & Coming photographer based in Salzburg, Austria. ” I started with equestrian vaulting photography, which was difficult to begin with, but made me learn really fast. Now I do mostly events, where my fast reaction time from sports photography comes in handy.”
We hope you loved these Women’s Day photographs as much as we did!
If you enjoyed this article, make sure to also check out these Photography Projects Empowering Women by our talented members. You may also be interested in these female photographers you should know.
For more articles highlighting women and their talents at Cherrydeck, you can also check out the following stories in our blog:
- 8 Under-Represented Black Female Photographers
- Stronger Together — A Visualization of Self-love by Emma Boonne
- A study of femininity: a portraiture project by Cole Ndelu
