Sofia Navarrete Zur is a Mexican-British creative researcher, documentary photographer, and visual anthropologist based in both Mexico City and New York City who has worked across Mexico, Guatemala, and the U.S. Her work explores themes of gender inequality, resilience, memory, and identity through the psychological and emotional experiences of conflict, migration, and marginalization.
Sofia’s projects have been supported by the Fulbright program, the National Geographic Society, The Harnisch Foundation, and published in Marie Claire, Australian Geographic, More To Her Story, Animal Politico and Women Photograph’s 2024 Year in Pictures photo book. Her academic work has been published in the Journal of Behavioral Sciences and Equis Justicia para las Mujeres. Her photography has been exhibited in Mexico City and the U.S. and has recently been shortlisted for the Marilyn Stafford 2024 FotoReportage Award. She attended the 76th Missouri Photojournalism Workshop in 2024 and is a member of Women Photograph, Fem Lens, and Mexican Women Street Photographers.
Sofia is also the creator of Out of the Shadows, a multidisciplinary participatory documentary and repository of testimony at the intersection of research, participatory photography, and documentary filmmaking exploring the stories of gender-based violence and resilience of diverse women across rural and urban Mexico. This project works collaboratively with survivors of gender-based violence to tell their stories on their own terms in accessible multimedia ways where they themselves are creative agents. The documentary experience is set to debut in 2025.
Sofia's reporting and research draw on years of ethnographic research and consulting in international affairs for non-profits and academic institutions, including UN Women, OCHA, the Center for Research and Higher Studies in Social Anthropology and Equis Justicia. She holds a Master’s of International Affairs concentrating in media and culture and a Bachelor’s in cultural anthropology, psychology and documentary film.
Selected Clients: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Australian Geographic, Marie Claire, National Geographic Society, Animal Político, FEMINIST, More To Her Story.
She has participated in Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT+)