Honorable Mention / 2024 / Portraiture / Children

• Photographer
  Federico Mejia, Colombia

In last year’s Golden Eagle Festival, Mongolia’s largest eagle hunting competition, Ayn Moldir won against 170 male eagle hunters and another female teenager like her. Ayn is fourteen years old, speaks good English and was trained by her father. Her eagle's name is Ana. I took this portrait before starting the competition, when I befriended her, and had the chance to see her excitement rise while winning the competitions in what usually is a male environment.