Climbing Cholitas by Todd Antony

I´m originally from New Zealand but have been living and working as a photographer in London for the last 15 years. Growing up in NZ, the outdoors is pretty much part of your DNA. It`s coded in there somewhere directly after Rugby.
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

TODD ANTONY SELECTED AND PUBLISHED IN OUR PRINT EDITION 09

I´m originally from New Zealand but have been living and working as a photographer in London for the last 15 years. Growing up in NZ, the outdoors is pretty much part of your DNA. It`s coded in there somewhere directly after Rugby. So when I`m out shooting on location I`m at my happiest. If that location happens to be somewhere far flung, and a bit isolated, then all the better.

I`ve always said there`s beach people and mountain people, and I`m most definitely the latter. Don`t get me wrong, I`m very adept at lying on my back on a sandy sun lounger with a beer close to hand. But there`s something about being up a mountain. The sheer scale, and perspective it can give you I find really calming and inspiring. 

Commercially, I specialise in advertising photography. But each year I try to undertake 1-2 personal projects to keep myself fresh from a creative standpoint. I get to go out and create work purely the way I want to, answering only to myself. 

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

The last 5 or so years these projects have lead me down the path of shooting various subcultures and groups around the world. The lesser known the better. I`m fascinated by these small and compelling groups who have a unique perspective on life and the way they approach it. Aside from being creatively cathartic, shooting these projects helps to land me more ad work, and in turn the ad work helps finance the next project. It`s a perfect little symbiotic relationship. I`ve been to Japan to shoot Dekotora truck drivers, Reindeer racing in Lapland, and most recently to Bolivia to shoot the “Cholitas Escaladoras”. The Climbing Cholitas. A group of Aymara indigenous women who are breaking stereotypes and shifting perceptions. 

In January of this year they summited the 22,841ft peak of Mt Aconcagua. The highest mountain outside of Asia. And did so eschewing traditional climbing clothing in favour of their traditional, vibrant, billowing dresses, and using their traditional shawls to carry equipment rather than backpacks. 

The word “Cholita”, as these indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia have long been known, is a diminutive of the pejorative Spanish word chola, meaning mixed-race or, pejoratively, “halfbreed”. But these woman have now reclaimed it as a badge of honour. As recently as 10 years ago, Bolivia`s indigenous Aymara women were socially ostracised and systematically marginalised. These women, recognisable by their wide skirts, braided hair and bowler hats, suffered racial discrimination and were banned from using public transport and entering certain public spaces. While these woman have been advocating for their rights since at least the 1960`s, their movement was further invigorated by the 2005 election of Evo Morales. 

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

Bolivia`s first Amerindian president. Since then the majority indigenous population have seen greater recognition and autonomy. In 2014, after years of helping mountaineers achieve their summit goals, eleven of these female Aymara porters and cooks strapped on crampons and swapped their high bowler hats for helmets to start climbing peaks themselves, all while wearing their traditional wide, puffy skirts and plaited hair. Though they managed several impressive summits in their four year stint, all in traditional Aymara dress, the women had one main objective all along. Since the beginning, the Cholita climbersgoal was to stand atop Aconcagua. Now, after countless years of portering and cooking, and four years of preparing on lower peaks, five of the Cholita climbers have summited the peak. Lidia Huayllas Estrada, Dora Magueño Machaca, Ana Lía Gonzáles Magueño, Llusco Alaña and Elena Quispe Tincutas successfully scaled Aconcagua in January of 2019. Dora and Ana Lía are mother and daughter, and when talking to them both, Ana Lía said that when they are on the mountain together they are not just mother and daughter, but best friends.

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

The shoot itself through up some new challenges for me. El Alto in Bolivia sits on a high plateau 1600ft above the city of La Paz. From a distance the city`s densely packed 2 and 3 story brick houses almost look like they are flowing up to the plateaus cliff edge before cascading down its precipitous face like water flowing over a waterfall, down to La Paz below it. In places the houses seemingly defying physics and gravity as they stake their claim on the cliffs face. El Alto, as the name eludes too, sits at an oxygen neglecting 13,615ft in altitude. Our flight rolled into the airport at around 1am and this lack of oxygen becomes very quickly apparent.

Unloading your camera cases off the baggage carousel onto your trolley suddenly becomes a slightly odd experience in that it feels like you`ve broken into a light jog in order to achieve this most Herculean of feats. The next few days are spent in La Paz acclimatising, and nights are spent being impulsively woken up every few hours trying to catch your breath as your body adapts to the lack of altitude. 

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

5 days later, in the pre dawn light, we set off for Huayana Potosi mountain (Pronounced “why-na”) along with the climbing Cholitas. As Huayana Potosi comes into full view, just as the first rays of morning light begin to kiss it`s upper slopes, we pull off the road and the Cholitas ask us to join them in a Challa / Pachammama offering ceremony, to afford us safe passage on the mountain over the coming days. With a small fire smouldering, we each offer the Pachammama some Coca leaves, tucking them under a small rock, before pouring some alcohol onto it, and taking a small swig as well. It`s basically local fire water that could likely strip paint if needed. And imbibing it at 6am blows your head off. 

When I`m working on projects like this, obviously the photography is the primary reason for being there. But what makes each shoot special, and memorable, and keeps me wanting to find the next subject, is the people. Having the privileged opportunity to spend time with them and get a small glimpse into their unique lives is something absolutely immeasurable, and photography provides me the key to be able to open those doors. During the shoot we had one of the most picturesque lunches ever, as we all sat at foot of Zongo glacier, the summit of Huayana towering above us, and had an Apthapi (communal meal) together. We didn`t all speak the same languages as each other, but in a way the shared experience provides a large part of the conversation. My producers would translate when any of us wanted to ask questions directly, but other times you find yourself able to work out what is being said by picking up the occasional word in conjunction with a tone of voice or a laugh. As humans we have an amazing ability to communicate without necessarily speaking, and I think there`s probably a lesson in that. 

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

About Todd Antony

Born in New Zealand, based in London and shooting worldwide, Todd Antony is a multi-award winning photographer whose diverse skill set leads to some equally diverse commissions and personal projects. He has been working as a photographer for 16 years and is represented in the UK, U.S. France and Australia. His work has featured in numerous awards, including the AOP Awards, Communication Arts Photo Annual, Creative Review Photo Awards, American Photography Awards, and has been included multiple times in Lurzerʼs Archive ‘200 Best Advertising Photographers Worldwideʼ. His work has been exhibited in London, the USA and France, and his commercial clients include amongst others, Samsung, Sony, Shell, Audi and the BBC. [Official Website]

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony
Climbing Cholitas | Todd Antony

More Stories

Art portfolio : Matters Matter by Michel Monteaux

Art portfolio : Matters Matter by Michel Monteaux

Art portfolio : The Matter Matter photographic series presents waste, neglected traces of the common history that lives in us, crushed, swept, thrown, recovered after our passage.
Black and white pictures ; Alice in the cities by Dimitris Mytas

Black and white pictures ; Alice in the cities by Dimitris Mytas

Black and white pictures ; My photographic approach attempts to appropriate the vision that pervades in the unadulterated look of the small child, as she wanders the contemporary cities of Europe and is confronted with the unfamiliar urban landscape.​
Patrizia Burra photography

Patrizia Burra photography

“with photography we try to reproduce the world. But the world is much more interesting when it becomes a work of art.”
https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/bannerpr.jpg

We invite you to participate in the first edition of the Portrait Photography Awards. Our call is open to any artistic interpretation of portrait photography.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/BAnImage.jpg

ImageRights provides intelligent image search and copyright enforcement services to photo agencies and professional photographers worldwide.

https://www.dodho.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/mono2022.jpg

The best 100 images along with the winning images published in the yearly book “Monochromatic – Best Photographers of 2022”

Call For Entries #24 | After 23 editions and more than 100 published photographers, our print edition has proven to be a simply effective promotional channel.

Five minutes with Holly Kehrt

Five minutes with Holly Kehrt

I loved taking photos of my son and I thought to myself “ I want to take better photos of him, and maybe I will sign up for a photography class”. I had no idea of where to start, but I knew I needed a basic photography course.
Mexico; Trick or treat by Susan De Witt

Mexico; Trick or treat by Susan De Witt

The last day of October is also traditionally the time for Halloween costumes and trick-or-treaters running from door to door in search of candy.
Valerie Decleer; Lucent cutaneous coverings – hungry for skin

Valerie Decleer; Lucent cutaneous coverings – hungry for skin

The short movie, Fly in the ointment, directed by Peter Collins engaged me to make a series of photographs in which questions raise regarding the presence or absence of human touch in our lives. 
Genetic memory; Archaictecture by Mitar Terzic

Genetic memory; Archaictecture by Mitar Terzic

Genetic memory is the memory which we received from our ancestor via DNA. Information about something viewed, heard or experimented long time ago, from somebody who shared with us the same genetic material.
Photographic language; Magic realism by Saul Landell

Photographic language; Magic realism by Saul Landell

Should I take an image in a world that I see or in a world that I understand?... Images of a real or a posible world?...
A Show of Hands by Tim Booth

A Show of Hands by Tim Booth

A Show of Hands is an extensive photographic study of the hands of Britain by the photographer Tim Booth, who has turned images of people’s hands into an alternative form of portraiture.
Photo Essays by Antonio Peinado

Photo Essays by Antonio Peinado

Photo essays bring together Antonio's most experimental work, moving towards surrealism and abstraction. Photography is an act of constant exploration.
Mister X by Dmitriy Ryabov

Mister X by Dmitriy Ryabov

Mister X" project is a story of a mysterious character, a composite character of many unrecognized talents, living in free play to one's imagination. The project’s idea appeared in the summer of 2018 and was developed in a series of photos about the different life character situations. The series will be continued in the autumn of 2019.
Vanishing Faces Tibet by Larry Louie

Vanishing Faces Tibet by Larry Louie

The current pace of development around the world has brought widespread concern about a loss of diversity in nature and the need to protect endangered species.  But the changes brought by the forces of globalization, industrialization and urbanization affect not only animals and plants.  People and cultures, ways of thinking and ways of living that have been in existence for thousands of years, are also at risk.  
Pets photography; Wet Dog by Sophie Gamand

Pets photography; Wet Dog by Sophie Gamand

Sophie Gamand is a French photographer living and working in New York. Since 2011, with both a documentary and artistic approaches,
Undocumented Living : In the land of the free by Daniel Ali

Undocumented Living : In the land of the free by Daniel Ali

In June 2014 I travelled to Houston, Texas in the United States of America with the aim of documenting individuals working and living in a country where thousands strive to find a better life. These people are from all over the world, but largely from Central and Southern Americas, are widely referred to and labelled as undocumented immigrants.
Landscape and people; Tuscany by Jimmy Williams

Landscape and people; Tuscany by Jimmy Williams

It’s a privilege to photograph the same timeless surroundings from which Renaissance Masters once drew inspiration.Every time I visit Tuscany, I expect its beauty to have succumbed to the trappings of modernity and tourism.
Tsaatan; Mongolia by Madoka Ikegami

Tsaatan; Mongolia by Madoka Ikegami

This is a series of portraits and general shots of the Tsaatan and Mongolian people who live in and around the forests of the East Taiga region of Khovsgol province in northern Mongolia.
Tokyo Series by Chris Becker

Tokyo Series by Chris Becker

Chris Becker has lived in some major cities including New York, Minneapolis and Taipei, so when the opportunity arose, he was excited to visit the metropolis of Tokyo.
Rio and paying for sex by Lorenzo Moscia

Rio and paying for sex by Lorenzo Moscia

How many Brazilians, as happens all over the world, pay to have sex in brothels, low-class bars, luxury hotels, night clubs, in the alleyways of the favelas or even in a car in front of the Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio de Janeiro?
Minimalism by Joseph O’Neill

Minimalism by Joseph O’Neill

In this portfolio I draw inspiration from the art of minimalism.By using modern technology I have created photographs that are both true to the artist and the definition of minimalism but convey a modernist approach.

Featured Stories

Kazakh eagle hunters & Golden eagle festival by Sanghamitra Sarkar

Kazakh eagle hunters & Golden eagle festival by Sanghamitra Sarkar

The Mongolian eagle hunters are a dying breed. In one estimate there are only fifty or sixty to two hundred and fifty eagle hunters left The golden eagle hunters capture the eaglets at around four months old
Adorned by Jady Bates

Adorned by Jady Bates

Women no longer feel the need to please the previously-ordained-in-media's "male gaze." Females are finding their voice and their own visions in how to adorn themselves: women according to women.
Lost America by Matthew Portch

Lost America by Matthew Portch

Lost America examines a quiet stillness in a forgotten landscape that is, in a sense: ‘on-pause'. Backwater towns and rural corners are juxtaposed against the ambiguity of isolated suburbia.
I Never told Anyone by Bénédicte Vanderreydt

I Never told Anyone by Bénédicte Vanderreydt

These seven images represent the women in Bénédicte Vanderreydt’s family that have been oppressed and objectified by a male dominated society, at a time when personal honour was of great significance to men.
Keyhole by Erwin Olaf

Keyhole by Erwin Olaf

This is what you see when peering through the keyhole of Erwin Olaf´s installation. A girl in a red coat sitting on the floor. A woman, with her back towards the camera.
Guatemala by Tom Bell

Guatemala by Tom Bell

The highland village markets are filled with people in colorful indigenous clothing, buying and selling brightly hued fruits and vegetables, blankets, woven goods, wood carvings, and articles for tourists.
Dear Japanese: Children of war by Miyuki Okuyama

Dear Japanese: Children of war by Miyuki Okuyama

The Netherlands made contact with the Indonesian archipelago in the 16th century. Over three hundred years of contact with the Dutch gave rise to a population of Indo-Europeans—Dutch citizens sharing both European and Asian ancestry.
Climbing Cholitas by Todd Antony

Climbing Cholitas by Todd Antony

I´m originally from New Zealand but have been living and working as a photographer in London for the last 15 years. Growing up in NZ, the outdoors is pretty much part of your DNA. It`s coded in there somewhere directly after Rugby.
Oblique rays of light by Guillaume d´Hubert

Oblique rays of light by Guillaume d´Hubert

Walking through the garden where the famous French author was raised leads me to connect with ancient feelings surviving around like perfumes in the air.
Los tatuadores de Cuba by Allison Dinner

Los tatuadores de Cuba by Allison Dinner

Amongst all the changes happening in Cuba right now one thing is staying the same, owning a tattoo shop and giving tattoos are prohibited. They are the only art form in Cuba that is still highly illegal.
My Wonderland by KireevArt

My Wonderland by KireevArt

Photography certifies experience and at the same time narrows - limiting him to searches of photogenic, turning experience into the image, into a souvenir.
The Cattle Camps of South Sudan by Trevor Cole

The Cattle Camps of South Sudan by Trevor Cole

The Mundari cattle camp, seldom visited by outsiders, is quite simply incredible. I saw Sebastiao Salgado’s photos of these camps years ago and there was little change that I could see.
Secret garden by Fenqiang Liu

Secret garden by Fenqiang Liu

Secret garden was selected and published in our print edition 21. Spring, many nesting pairs of Great Egrets gather at Kraft Azalea Garden in Central Florida, the United States to begin their nesting rituals. I was inspired to share with the world the beauty of the Great Egrets.
Ape dumma – Open your eyes by Czuko Williams

Ape dumma – Open your eyes by Czuko Williams

There is an strong untold story among the ancient tribes who lives in Ethiopia. The story of the loss of traditional way of life due the process of deculturation, transculturation, and mainly because of progress.
Bill Gekas ; Fine art portrait photographer

Bill Gekas ; Fine art portrait photographer

Bill Gekas is a multi awarded and published photographer that was born and resides in Melbourne Australia.
Not in Kansas by Vicky Martin

Not in Kansas by Vicky Martin

Not In Kansas is a staged series of photographs inspired by the tenacious, self- reliant character Dorothy from the story The Wizard of Oz.

Trending Stories

Passion for photography; Stefano Coltelli

Passion for photography; Stefano Coltelli

Born in 1978, I always had a passion for photography, since I received my first film camera as gift. When I met my girlfriend, who is also interested in photography, I started taking pictures with a compact camera
Travel Photography by Mauro De Bettio

Travel Photography by Mauro De Bettio

Born and raised in a little village in the Italian Alps, now based in Barcelona, Mauro already felt from young age the desire to tell. He discovered that the camera was the right tool for him, the eye through which he could speak to the world.
10 Great fine art photographers

10 Great fine art photographers

The great fine art photography of Riccardo Magherini, Jeff Vyse, Stephanie Pfriender Stylander, Dragos Ionian, Aaron Sehmar, Alicia Moneva, Gianluca Micheletti, Polina Plotnikova, Antigone Kourakou and Margrieta Jeltema.
Varanasi and the Scent of Sadhus By Abhijit Bose

Varanasi and the Scent of Sadhus By Abhijit Bose

Standing on the bank of the Ganges, I could hear the faint sound of a prayer-bell. Someone is doing Aarti (worship) nearby! Suddenly there was a flash of a match stick at a dark corner of the ghat.
Jan von Holleben : konrad wimmel is in town!

Jan von Holleben : konrad wimmel is in town!

Seven worlds teeming with life promise all the fun of searching and finding – and nothing is impossible.
Take a second glance by Pascal Lagesse

Take a second glance by Pascal Lagesse

Sometimes a second glance at things gives one the chance to see an element that was hidden at first glance. A flower, a leaf or very minute ferns possess some details that could be missed if not watched closely.
The Algarvians and the others by Vitor Pina

The Algarvians and the others by Vitor Pina

The project “The Algarvians and the others” it ́s an ongoing photographic project that pretend to make a portraiture of the people who that live, work and visit Algarve, the southern region in Portugal.
Cyrille Druart ; The world as I see it

Cyrille Druart ; The world as I see it

Cyrille Druart was born in 1980 in Paris. His interest in Art leads to experimenting various fields from an early age. In parallel with Design studies at ESAG-Penninghen in Paris, he learns photography by himself and begins travelling in order to make images.
David : As cold as clay by Jim Mortram

David : As cold as clay by Jim Mortram

Meeting regularly, David and I, in early 2013 began working upon the first instalment of an ongoing series of stories about his life with blindness. The challenging new day to day routines, learning routes into town with his stick or following behind his mother, Eugene.
Enric Montes ; Parallel worlds

Enric Montes ; Parallel worlds

After a life in photography, in 2009 he created his publishing house to publish his own projects.
Recollecting Dreams by Aji Susanto Anom

Recollecting Dreams by Aji Susanto Anom

Question about home, dream and everything between, Photography is my emotional escape, I use it as something to express what I feel in my life instantly. In 2014, I moved from my hometown and started to live in another city for a master study
Turkish Oil Wrestling by Alain Schroeder

Turkish Oil Wrestling by Alain Schroeder

In the heat of the blazing sun, skin glistening with olive oil, wearing only the traditional kispet (thick leather pants), men of all ages, pair off to wrestle in the oldest sport in recorded history after the Olympic Games.

Other Stories

stay in touch
Join our mailing list and we'll keep you up to date with all the latest stories, opportunities, calls and more.
We use Sendinblue as our marketing platform. By Clicking below to submit this form, you acknowledge that the information you provided will be transferred to Sendinblue for processing in accordance with their terms of use
We’d love to
Thank you for subscribing!
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted.
- Between 10/30 images of your best images, in case your project contains a greater number of images which are part of the same indivisible body of work will also be accepted. You must send the images in jpg format to 1200px and 72dpi and quality 9. (No borders or watermarks)
- A short biography along with your photograph. (It must be written in the third person)
- Title and full text of the project with a minimum length of 300 words. (Texts with lesser number of words will not be accepted)
This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Contact
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.
Submission
Dodho Magazine accepts submissions from emerging and professional photographers from around the world.
Their projects can be published among the best photographers and be viewed by the best professionals in the industry and thousands of photography enthusiasts. Dodho magazine reserves the right to accept or reject any submitted project. Due to the large number of presentations received daily and the need to treat them with the greatest respect and the time necessary for a correct interpretation our average response time is around 5/10 business days in the case of being accepted. This is the information you need to start preparing your project for its presentation.
To send it, you must compress the folder in .ZIP format and use our Wetransfer channel specially dedicated to the reception of works. Links or projects in PDF format will not be accepted. All presentations are carefully reviewed based on their content and final quality of the project or portfolio. If your work is selected for publication in the online version, it will be communicated to you via email and subsequently it will be published.
Get in Touch
How can we help? Got an idea or something you'd like share? Please use the adjacent form, or contact contact@dodho.com
Thank You. We will contact you as soon as possible.