Women of the water - Outdoor Swimmer Magazine

Women of the Water, by photographer Ana Elisa Sotelo Van Oordt, is a series of landscapes and nude installations exploring the connection between women and nature.

Ana Elisa Sotelo Van Oordt is a documentary photographer and filmmaker. Born in Peru, Ana’s work focuses on gender narratives and how humans interact with their environment. She looks to create images that change the way we perceive strength and femininity. No stranger to the magazine, Ana featured in our November issue and contributed the cover image.

Ana took up sea swimming off the coast of Lima over seven years ago as part of physical therapy to recover from a spine fracture. “I quickly fell in love with the sport and experience,” she says. “Soon after I integrated it into my artistic practice.” During the pandemic an all-women swimming group, La Truchas (The Trouts) formed a swimming daily practice and friendship in Lima and Ana joined them to swim and document the group. Today, she has an incredible body of work inspired by swimmers and the water where she swims and creates.

Women of the Water is a series of landscapes and nude installations exploring the connection between women and nature. “Women blend with the natural landscapes they thrive in and the images look to communicate that nature is as alive as they are,” says Ana. “In the images there is no intention of domination of the wild, it is about communing with it. From these waters, the women draw strength. Each aquatic landscape was chosen by the women depicted in them, who selected the environment for the personal and collective significance to them.”