Born in Peru and raised in Switzerland, Ana Flores is a London-based photographer who dedicates her practice to projects inspired by her cultural heritage. The artist rediscovers Peru through her own lens, creating beautiful portraits of the people of her homeland that blur the boundaries between fashion and documentary photography. You may have seen some of them on the cover of the first issue of Mole: the digital platform that supports the global South.

In her recent series Where there is Flores, there is Flores (Where These Flowers Bloom) the photographer pays homage to the Andean women of her birthplace, Cusco, focusing on the subtle details of their traditional dress. Set in highland settings with “natural light and simple surroundings,” Anna aims to “create an empowering space for her subjects,” capturing how they uphold their heritage through fashion. “I strive to create positive and powerful images that shift the stereotypical representation of indigenous women from marginalized and passive, to celebrating them as dynamic and fundamental aspects of the culture,” she shares. Shot on film, the development of Ana’s images is what really brings her rich visual stories to life — “the darkroom enhances this sense of calm with warm tones and colors,” she tells us.

From her self-taught start-up, the photographer first moved to London to pursue a BA in fashion photography at the London College of Fashion. Here, she says, she was able to develop a photographic language that places feminist perspectives at its core. She draws inspiration from Peruvian and Latin American filmmakers, painters and artists, and finds a “deep fulfillment and sense of freedom” in celebrating her identity and heritage through photography.