Lee-Ann Olwage

Lee-Ann Olwage (South Africa) is a Cape Town-based documentary photographer and visual storyteller whose practice is rooted in collaboration, social engagement and celebration. After studying film directing, she spent nine years working in the film industry, including as a set decorator. That experience continues to shape the way she approaches light, colour, environment and visual narrative, guided by the belief that every story has its own visual language.

Lee-Ann describes herself as an “accidental photographer.” She first connected deeply with the medium during a difficult period in her life, discovering that photography could be both a way of processing personal experience and a tool for entering worlds she might otherwise never encounter. Her work explores gender, identity, education and belonging across the African continent, with a particular interest in stories that create space for people not only to be seen, but to participate actively in how they are represented.

Her projects include #BlackDragMagic, created in collaboration with drag artist and activist Belinda Qaqamba Ka-Fassie and members of South Africa’s queer community, and The Right to Play, which celebrates girls in Kenya whose education offered new possibilities beyond female genital mutilation and child marriage. Rather than focusing only on hardship, Lee-Ann looks for dignity, joy, resilience and moments in which people are celebrated for who they are.

Lee-Ann’s work has received international recognition, including awards at the World Press Photo Contest in 2020, 2023 and 2024, as well as the 2023 Sony World Photography Awards. Alongside her photography, she speaks openly about ethics, creative identity and the importance of building a sustainable artistic life. For Lee-Ann, the camera is both a joyful tool for curiosity and a responsibility: an invitation into people’s lives that must be approached with sensitivity, respect and care.