Elle Leontiev is an Australian fine art and documentary photographer whose journey into photography took her from the corporate world in London to the international stage of the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards.
Adventure and curiosity have been part of Elle’s life for as long as she can remember. Growing up fascinated by nature, people and their stories, she spent much of her twenties travelling the world, camera in hand. She explored landscapes and natural places before increasingly turning her attention to people and their lives. Alongside her travels, she developed a growing interest in conservation and activism, eventually finding herself working in London in impact finance, on projects connected to development and climate change.
Yet, despite the opportunities and the travel that came with her work, something was missing. Photography had always been there in the background, a creative ambition she kept postponing. A visit to the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in 2018 gave her a glimpse of what she wanted to pursue, but it would take a major turning point in her life before she finally made the change.
Returning to Australia, Elle studied for a Diploma of Photography at TAFE Queensland, where she explored studio work, portraiture, underwater photography, film and darkroom processes. She became particularly drawn to experimental and conceptual photography, developing an approach that brings together fine art and documentary storytelling. For Elle, photography is a practice that should keep evolving: there is always another perspective to explore, another way to create an image, and another story worth telling.
That search for stories took her eventually to Vanuatu, where she photographed Philip Yamah, known as The Barefoot Volcanologist. Her portrait, made on the ash plains of Mount Yasur, went on to win Open Photographer of the Year at the 2026 Sony World Photography Awards. But for Elle, the photograph means more than a personal milestone. The international attention helped bring Philip’s story to a wider audience and contributed to a fundraising campaign supporting his family’s dream of sending his son to university to study volcanology.
The award has opened new doors, but Elle is still exploring where her photography might take her. Her work spans cinematic imagery, fine art and documentary projects, and she continues to experiment with different ways of making pictures. She is also developing a long-term portrait project with Greenlandic communities, exploring identity against a backdrop of geopolitical tensions, with further work planned among Indigenous communities in Greenland and Svalbard.
For Elle, photography is about more than making a beautiful or striking image. It can bring people’s stories into the world, create connections and offer opportunities that might otherwise never exist. And while an active volcano has certainly played its part in one extraordinary chapter of her journey, some of her own happiest moments can still be found in something much simpler: the sparkles of sunlight on the ocean.