The Lightness of Being

• Prize
• Photographer
  Alinka Echeverria, United Kingdom
• Date of Photograph
  online
• Website
  http://alinkaecheverria.com

In water, visual language takes on new significance. As the sole underwater spectator, the ceremonies of synchronized swimming practices where bodies were moving in seemingly impossible ways, became for me a tableau vivant rich in symbolism; a metaphor for liberation from earthly constraints and emancipation from physical and psychological barriers.

• Biography
  Alinka Echeverria (b.1981) is a Mexican/British photographer and visual anthropologist . She is a graduate of The International Center of Photography in New York and has an M.A in Social Anthropology and Development from The University of Edinburgh. She was recently named 2011 Winner of the HSBC Prix pour la Photographie given annually by the HSBC Cultural Foundation in France and was selected as a participant in the 2011 Joop Swart Masterclass of the World Press Photo Foundation. She has been awarded by CENTER, Magenta Foundation, American Photo, ASMP and has been a selected finalist for several grants including The Aftermath Foundation, Visas de l'Association Nationale des Iconographes, FotoVisura Grant and the Ian Parry Scholarship. Commissions and publications include: Le Monde Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The British Journal of Photography, The Sunday Times Magazine, NPR, Time Magazineâ��s Lightbox, Visura Magazine, Photo Magazine, Tomo, Cuartoscuro, Bite! Magazine, Fraction Magazine, American Photo, The Annenberg Foundation and Fundacion Casa Medina Sidonia. Alinka has been featured in various exhibitions worldwide, notably the 52nd Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art (2007), Pingyao Photo Festival in China (2008), Spazio Oberdan in Milan (2009), The New York Photo Festival (2010), Newspace Center for Photography in Portland (2010), Steven Kasher Gallery in New York (2010), the Flash Forward Festival in Toronto (2010), Galerie R�©verb�¨re, France (2011). Alinkaâ��s working background in development and visual communication projects in East Africa, India, Mexico and Cuba deeply informs her practice as a photographer. Her work mainly focuses on the human connection to place, collective memory, ritual and identity. www.alinkaecheverria.com