APA DC LGBTQIAP+ Photography Grant Recepient 2025

American Photographic Artists (APA) is proud to announce Omar Soto (they/them) as the 2025 grant recipient for the annual LGBTQIAP+ Photography Grant sponsored by APA’s Washington, D.C., chapter (APA|DC).  

A panel of distinguished jurors selected Omar’s project from 91 applications across the United States. Soto is a DACAmented photographer whose surreal imagery explores queer joy and escapism to navigate the marginalization they endure while living at the intersection of race, gender, and social class. Born in Tijuana in 1996, Soto migrated to the United States in 2000 and currently resides in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Omar’s grant submission, “Mediums of Hope: Reimagining Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Classical Art,” is a collaborative photographic project amongst costume designers, makeup and nail artists, hair and clothing stylists, jewelry makers, painters, fabricators, and models to create elaborately staged visual compositions. Drawing inspiration from iconic works of art history, such as Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus (1445-1510), these photographs reimagine classical narratives through the lens of QTBIPOC (Queer and Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color) identities. Rooted in the cultural expressions of Mexican and Latinx communities, as well as in music, film, and spiritual symbolism, Mediums of Hope establishes dialogue between classical and contemporary art and challenges the traditional canon in art history by centering queer people, trans people, and people of color.

“This award will assist me in completing my series through the ability to compensate my dedicated collaborators which a majority of them are queer and BIPOC. This will also allow me to pay for services like printing and framing as well as creating additional work along with keeping my work alive, “ said Soto. “Funding is crucial to any artist and I cannot express enough how much it means to me to have APA's support along the way. It isn't lost on me that many amazing artists applied and to be selected to win this is beyond my wildest dreams.”

APA|DC launched the $3,000 grant in 2022 for emerging and established photographers to celebrate diversity and help LGBTQIAP+ photographers receive funding, recognition, and representation in the professional photographic community. Photographers aged 18+ in the United States and its territories who self-identified as LGBTQIAP+ were eligible to apply.

The grant’s jury panel consisted of industry leaders and included Michael Wichita, Photo Director, AARP; Natalie Jasmine Harris, Filmmaker; Dee Williams; Photographer and Social Content Director; and Matthew Leifheit, Photographer, Editor, and Professor. 

“APA|DC is honored to continue sponsoring this grant to help amplify the voices of LGBTQIAP+ photographers. Our jurors felt that Omar Soto’s project, Mediums of Hope: Reimagining Race, Gender, and Sexuality in Classical Art, is a powerful contribution to the field and that this support will provide critical aid in advancing their work. We’re excited to see the project continue to grow and reach broader audiences,” said Katie Dance, APA|DC Chapter Director.