Last year, Citlali Fabian was thinking about giving up photography for good. Today, she is the Sony World Photographer of the Year. If you have ever felt like walking away from the camera or your passion project, I hope this story inspires you to keep going.
Photography has always been one of humanity’s most powerful tools for documentation; that this person exists and this place matters. Each year, tens of thousands of images are entered into the Sony World Photography Awards with photographers making the case for the stories they believe deserve to be seen.
This year, it was Bilha, Stories of my Sisters, a project by Mexican visual artist Citlali Fabián that that won the judges over and it’s not difficult to see why.
Working in collaboration with activists and artists from indigenous communities in the Oaxaca state, Fabián created a body work that documents the faces of the women working and advocating for change in their communities. “I would like people to see the amazing work of these women, what they are doing and celebrate it,” she said. “Activism is part of our every day, and I hope this shows a different side of Mexico.”
Fabián describes herself as a traditional photographer, and her kit reflects that conviction. She shoots black and white film on traditional medium format. “It’s a way to consciously slow down the process of creating,” she shares. Using this unhurried style of photography plus the consideration that comes with collaborating with subjects that are busy with their work made this a long-term project that spanned over two years.
The process of creating these portraits meant building a genuine trust with her subjects through conversations, with some of them becoming close friends. For Fabián, this was also a challenge to the way images are produced and consumed. “We cannot keep going with the colonial way where you take a photo of a person and never see them again.”
When I probed her as to why she chose to create a multimedia project over just ordinary portraits, Fabián was clear that photography alone was never going to be sufficient to tell these women’s stories.
“There are many layers, and sometimes you cannot tell the stories in other ways. I needed to add other elements for telling a more compelling story about them and what they are doing.” The result is a body of work that infuses her film photography with digital illustrations, adding another dimension to each portrait.
The illustrations are also meant to make the portraits interactive as Fabián intends to create children’s books, a personal ambition that is deeply rooted in identity and representation. Growing up in Mexico, Fabián is acutely aware of how indigenous cultures are often reduced to a single narrative, an issue that her body of works seeks to address.
“When you come from the Global South, there aren’t many relatable references,” she says. “I would like my daughter to grow up feeling proud of her heritage and the work that other women are doing for her.”
With over 500 municipalities in Oaxaca state alone and countless women doing extraordinary work within them, Fabián is excited to expand her project. Bilha, Stories of my Sisters is the first edition of what she hopes will become many, with no rush but intention.
Which brings us to where we started. This project was a labour of love and time, and at some point last year, Fabián was ready to give up on photography. “I passed through so many hard things personally that I was thinking, that’s it, I can’t do it,” she says. “But sometimes the people around you are the ones that push you.”
It’s a remarkable (and deeply relatable) admission from someone holding the most coveted award in photography, which makes Fabián and her work so compelling. In a time where instant gratification, rapid growth and trends dominate the conversation, it’s refreshing to see a slow, intentional, long term project built on community, collaboration and love celebrated on the global stage.
Fabián’s parting advice to any photographer doubting themselves is simple. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. When you make things from the heart, people can see it.”
The Sony World Photography Awards exhibition will be on display at Somerset House, London until 4 May. AP readers can enjoy an exclusive 15% discount by using the code APHOTO15.
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