The storytellers behind Weaving Stories

In Weaving Stories,
the photographers are referred to as weavers, a reflection of how their
work comes together: through time, care, and the layering of lived
experience.

The book brings together weavers
working across Africa, Brazil, and the diaspora, each contributing a
long-form visual narrative rooted in everyday life.

These stories were developed as part
of the PICHA Grant, an initiative that supports photographers in
creating work with authorship, agency, and space to deepen their
practice.

What follows is not a directory, but an introduction, a way to meet the weavers behind the stories you hold in your hands.

Meet the Photographers

Gloria Mwivanda

Nairobi, Kenya

Story: As Within, So Without
A Conceptual Self-Portrait

Gloria Mwivanda is a visual artist whose work explores the relationship between the human body and the natural world. In As Within, So Without, she turns the camera inward, using self-portraiture to reflect on nature as both a healing force and a mirror of inner life.

Through meditation, observation,
and experimentation, Gloria draws parallels between roots, branches,
waves, and the rhythms of the body — proposing a vision of humanity that
exists in balance with the environment.

Geovana Maria

Salvador, Brazil

Story: Women Who Heal
An Ancestral Technology of Black Women

Geovana Maria is a Black Brazilian artist and photographer whose work centers self-care, ancestry, and the
knowledge passed through generations of Black women.

In Women Who Heal, she explores healing as a collective practice — one rooted in family, ritual, and inherited wisdom. The story reflects on reconnection: to self, to lineage, and to the practices that sustain wellbeing in everyday life.

Rita Harper

New Orleans, USA

Story: How We Heal

Rita Harper is a documentary photographer whose work examines how Black communities navigate healing from deep-rooted emotional and historical trauma.

In How We Heal, Rita documents everyday moments — elders on the corner, youth in
conversation, local business owners — tracing the different paths people choose in their search for inner peace and restoration.

Kat Grudko

Cape Town, South Africa

Story: Female Gaze
The Body, an Art Piece

Katusha “Kat” Grudko is a photographer whose work centers intimacy, embodiment, and self-representation.

Female Gaze is a meditation on the body as a site of agency rather than spectacle.
Through vulnerable portraits, Kat explores how women choose to be seen, holding space for softness, confidence, and self-definition.

Ayorinde Ogundele

Lagos, Nigeria

Story: Danfo
A Stubborn Nigerian Relic

Ayorinde Ogundele is a photographer whose work explores social, economic, and environmental realities in Nigeria.

In Danfo, he turns his lens toward Lagos’ iconic yellow minibuses — tracing how transportation shapes daily life in one of the world’s most dynamic cities. The story reflects on movement, resilience, and the systems people rely on to navigate urban space.

Martha Nzisa Mutiso

Nairobi, Kenya

Story: Crochet Matriarchs
Knitted Animals

Martha Nzisa Mutiso is a conservation storyteller whose work spans photography, film, writing, and field recording.

Crochet Matriarchs is rooted in memory and labor, honoring generations of women whose knitting and crocheting provided care, beauty, and economic support. The story reflects on craft as inheritance, income, and love.

Image with text

Nairobi, Kenya

Story: Mothers of Color
A Generation of Influential Women

Barbra Ayako Guya is a portrait and lifestyle photographer whose work highlights strength, care, and everyday leadership.

Mothers of Color focuses on motherhood as influence, documenting moments of guidance, tenderness, and responsibility passed between generations of women.

Nancy Afua “Efe” Agyeman

Accra, Ghana

Story: Navigating the Plains
Reflections from a STEM Enthusiast

Nancy Afua “Efe” Agyeman is a photographer whose work bridges science, environment, and personal history.

In Navigating the Plains, she reflects on growing up inspired by a parent’s work in conservation and science, exploring what it means to pursue knowledge, curiosity,
and ambition in spaces where representation has been limited.

Ana Carolina Haddad

Salvador de Bahia / São Paulo, Brazil

Story: Bahia, A Gastronomical Lens into the Afro-Brazilian Diaspora

Ana Carolina Haddad is a photographer whose work examines identity, culture, and memory.

In Bahia, she explores Afro-Brazilian food as a living archive, tracing how ingredients, rituals, and shared meals carry histories of displacement, resilience, and connection across regions in Brazil and the African diaspora.

Rading “Raddie” Nyamwaya

Nairobi, Kenya

Story: Moments Giving Diversity to Joy

Raddie Nyamwaya is a documentary photographer whose work celebrates everyday life.

Moments, centers joy as something plural and personal,found in water, movement, laughter, and stillness. The story resists singular definitions, offering joy as something that arrives unexpectedly and on its own terms.

A collective work

Each weaver in Weaving Stories contributes a distinct perspective, shaped by place, practice, and lived experience. Together, these stories form a collective reflection, not meant to conclude, but to remain open.

Then came this moment.

In this video, a few of the weavers see Weaving Stories in print for the first time, a moment of recognition, reflection, and shared authorship.

Bring Weaving Stories Home

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