How the Leica Gallery in Boston is Celebrating the Female Perspective through Local Photography

Women’s History Month celebrates the achievements of women in this country, including all their contributions as workers, leaders, mothers, wives, sisters, and creators. It is meant to draw special attention to the female perspective, making us think about and reflect upon what it means to be a woman, or to try and view life through their lens.

Leica Gallery Boston—one of only two Leica galleries in the US—is giving visitors a chance to see through that lens, literally. For the month of March, the gallery is exhibiting three Boston women photographers in the exhibit titled “Leica Women Foto Project: Inward//Outward,” giving us a moment of pause to see how women see themselves, and an unmistakable look through their lenses.

The exhibit allows us to step into the private lives of these three women, who celebrate and address their hometowns, families, and bodies through several mediums of photography. Visit the Leica Gallery during March for this engaging and dynamic celebration of the Boston female perspective. Plus, you can contribute to the interactive Expression Wall at the gallery during the month of March to share your own story and thoughts.

Jaina Cipriano

Jaina Cipriano is a photographer, filmmaker and set designer based in Boston. She studied at The New England School of Photography, and her work has been shown in group and individual exhibits around New England.

Her photography in Inward//Outward consists of five self-portraits that explore the emotional toll of religion and purity culture on the female body. Cipriano works without digitally manipulating her photos, instead building incredible sets for her photography—she believes that details like this are vital to the process of creating something immersive.

Kris Nevaeh Tyler

In her photography, Kris Nevaeh Tyler, raised and based in Boston, aims to show the versatility of the black community by capturing their personalities and stories. She has her bachelor’s in Psychology from Lesley University and hopes to eventually work as an art therapist.

Tyler’s work in Inward//Outward is meant to reflect her relationship with Boston, the city she grew up in and has come to love. Her work in the exhibit is a collection of black and white portraits that showcase—through movement, light, and reflection, she says—how she and others interact with communities they are connected to. Highlighting places she grew up in like Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan, Tyler aims to convey each neighborhood’s richness in culture, art, personality, and personal significance—despite their commonly being labeled as the contrary.

Marika Belamarich

Another Boston-based photographer, Marika Belamarich showcases a strong passion for music photography and often centers her work around the developing local music scene.

About Leica Women Foto Project

The Leica Women Foto Project (LWFP) is a platform by Leica Camera USA that serves to empower the female perspective and its impact on today’s visual stories. The shape of a story is reactive to the storyteller’s perspective, developing a narrative that too often is reflective of individual truths. LWFP encourages diversity and inclusion in visual storytelling to amplify voices typically underrepresented in photography, discovering the breadth of shapes formed by a single story.

About the LWFP Award

The LWFP will grant three photographers $10,000 each to help complete an in-progress, personal photo project that bears witness to humanity, expressed through the female point of view. In addition to the financial award, each winner will receive a Leica SL2-S camera and a Leica Vario Elmarit-SL 24-70mm lens, to further support the completion of the personal project.

Awardees are featured in a 4-week exhibition at Fotografiska New York, to commence in 2022. Applications for the Leica Women Foto Project Award are reviewed by a panel of renowned figures in the world of photography. This year’s Awardees will be announced March 8, 2022.

About the LWFP x VII Mentor Program

The Leica Women Foto Project x VII Mentor Program will grant three mentorships that include monthly one-on-one Coaching sessions by a VII Photographer, exposure on VII’s website, representation of Mentees by VII Agency, and a 12-month loan of a Leica Q2 camera.

Candidates for this exclusive Mentorship Program must demonstrate a commitment to photography, must have worked in the photo industry for four or more years, must have worked on assignment, and most have a published body of work. Judges select candidates based on quality of work, commitment to project, and vision of future success. This year’s Mentees will be announced March 8, 2022.

The LWFP platform aims to empower the female perspective through visual stories. It encourages diversity and inclusion, amplifying typically underrepresented voices. This year’s awardees will be honored and celebrated at the LWFP Award Opening Reception on March 8 at Fotografiska New York.

For more information about the Leica brand and projects, visit leicagalleryboston.com. To engage in-person and tell your story on the Expression Wall, come to the Leica gallery at 74 Arlington St, Boston; 857-305-3609; info@leicagalleryboston.com; open Monday – Saturday: 10am – 7pm; Sunday: 11am – 6pm

This is a paid partnership between Leica Camera and Boston Magazine