The need to define gender begins in the moment where the world tries to change it. I have never accepted definitions and categories. I believe freedom comes before everything and our bodies do not nail us to a history or a story already written
From a young age people live with the constant feeling of what you want and what you are is something to be ashamed of, of illegitimacy and ridicule generating pain and suffering for those who do not fit the normative categories
The party has ended and you go back to face your reality through the judgement of others. This is my Father.
Melania de Leyva was born in 1998.
Her first approach to photography was in 2009 when travelling in Europe, where she captured city life scenarios and, in the meantime, she started photographing herself with a series of black and white self-portraits.The self portraits usually represent artistic nudes in line with the artist’s perception of herself. Therefore, nudity becomes a way to show the essence, which is automated in the other subjects, it stages a dimension that expresses, in the form of an illustrated work, concepts.
At the moment, she lives in the outskirts of Venice, Italy.
Awards - Certificate of Achievement - Honorable Mention Prix de la Photographie Paris 2020
- Certificate of Achievement - Honorable Mention Tokyo International photo Awards 2023
- Finalist at Laguna Art Prize 23.24
- AI-AP American Photography AP40 Chosen Winner
