The Sony Alpha Female program continues to build a community that inspires and empowers creators to be their best selves. Each week, a themed contest takes place on the Alpha Female Facebook Group and the winner receives $500. During Women’s History Month we want to highlight some of the incredible previous Alpha Female grant winners and their epic projects. Join us in celebrating these inspiring creators, give them a follow, and join our fast growing community on Facebook and on Instagram.

We check in with some of the past winners in the Alpha Female program to revisit their projects and see what they're up to now on Instagram.

Julie Ellison - @Joolyhart

Receiving the Alpha Female grant in 2020/2021, adventure photographer Julie Ellison worked on a project called ​​“Women of the West,” that showcases strong women and their lives in the rugged landscape of the American West. Through authentic writing, photography and video, Julie specializes in stories about the outdoors, climbing, bold women and anything that's awesome. With a genuine documentary style, she uses adventure as a way to experience the world and help the people in it.

Brandi Cadette - @Brandisimonephotography

Brandi Cadette is a wedding photographer based in Houston. Through attentiveness, she is committed to documenting love stories authentically providing high quality images of unforgettable moments. She received an Alpha Female grant in 2022 for her project “Crushed Black.” This project is a photo series highlighting different Black women in different industries and sharing more stories about their life experiences. Check out the photo series HERE.

Hannah Mather - @Hannahshoneycomb

Alpha Female grant winner Hannah Mather is a pollinator photographer and a beekeeper. The grant supported her project known as “The Pollinator Project'' where she created a photo and video project that showed the unique life and behavior of several pollinator species. Mather shot stills, video and high-speed slow motion to give us a glimpse into the overlooked parts of nature that are all around us and help more people to slow down and to see that there is nature worth protecting right in our own backyards. If you’re interested in bees - her account is a must-follow! She always gives a fresh look at the insects we see everyday but don’t always think about. Learn more about her project HERE.

Luisa Del Valle - @luisadelvalleespinoza

Luisa Del Valle is a self-portrait photographer whose work explores minimalism, solid colors, shapes, papercraft and everyday objects. For her Alpha Female grant project, she explored the concept of transformation, transforming five everyday objects into creative expressions and recording the process in behind-the-scenes videos. You can see one of her video transformations in the video below and read more on her full project HERE.

MaryBel - @marybelphotography

Fine art and self-portrait photographer Mary Bel was awarded an Alpha Female Grant for her project, “A representation of oneself or viewed by oneself; COVID-19’s impact on mental health." For the project, Bel stepped in front of the camera to create moody and painterly self-portraits that tell a story and demonstrate how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mental health of individuals as a society by visualizing its impact. Throughout her career, Mary Bel has become known for her painterly images, beautifully blending fine art and photography.

Angela Perez- @angela.michelle.perez

Fashion and portrait photographer Angela Perez has a passion for shedding light on those who don’t often get their story told, and she brought that passion to her Alpha Female grant project. The project, “Life Celebrations: Documenting the Photographic Wisdom of Our Elders,” is a portrait project featuring the stories of those with more years behind them, embracing their age as those years made them who they are today. See the full project HERE.

Tenley Clark - @tenleyclarkcreative

Tenley Clark is a photographer, mother, and lover of all things creative and colorful. She’s spent the last decade of her career as a photographer photographing kids portraits, kids fashion, and commercial photography for kids brands. She won an Alpha Female Grant for her project “Under The Weather,” where she created a series of cinemagraphs exploring the challenges of motherhood. Give her a follow for more bubbly and colorful magic in your feed. Check out the cinemagraphs she created HERE. 

Michelle Watt - @WattPhoto

Michelle Watt is a fashion and portrait photographer who specializes in staging conceptual narratives with a whimsical flair, addressing themes of freedom and restriction within cultural identity. She was the winner of an Alpha Female Grant for her project featuring a whimsical allegory of her struggle as a codependent, which you can see HERE. She creates vast worlds, and often includes discrete hidden ‘Easter Eggs’ as varying social commentary in her work. Follow her to see more of her compelling and intriguing photography.

Melody Paine - @Imperfect_Joy_

Melody Paine is a photographer and filmmaker based in Massachusetts and a winner of the Alpha Female grant. Her work specializes in capturing authentic and emotional stories, and for her grant-winning project she worked with Make-A-Wish Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the featured family. Learn more about her project HERE and follow her on Instagram to see her latest work.

Nasra Nimaga - @nasraarchitect

Nasra Nimaga's artistic pursuits include photography, architecture, and interdisciplinary design, all intertwined to inform one another and draw from her personal experiences. For her Alpha Female grant, she created a photo essay combining photography and storytelling to explore the challenging perceptions of womanhood and identity. The project combines photography and storytelling to explore and celebrate womanhood, and you can see the full project HERE.

Elizabeth Cayouette - @cayouettemedia

Director, videographer and editor Elizabeth Cayouette has created videos for clients like Aerie, Williams Sonoma and All Womxn Project. She won the Alpha Female grant for the launch of her video project Keie Creative. For the project, Cayouette shot and edited her first tutorial video, Intro To Premiere Pro, with the goal to help set young women’s creative video journeys in motion. Cayouette also recently got a book deal and is writing her first book called “One Last Shot” that will be available in the summer of 2024 - learn more @bettysbooklist.