'Womenkind'-Female Gaze by Kat Grudko

South Africa has got a pair of eyes seeing women in a whole different world. With a passion for imagery, our recipient of the 2022 PICHA Grant started her photography career with fashion photography but has since photographed everything from events to weddings to food to product to lifestyle and stock. In pursuit of the woman's power, she recently put a more intentional focus on Exotic Boudoir, her own boudoir photography company which allows women the freedom of the intimate visual expressions of themselves.

Wielding such power to empower other women and with deep eyes to explore beyond the surface looks, Kat Grudko emerges as this year's grant recipient for the Female Gaze theme.

Download Kat's images here

Kat is a portrait and lifestyle photographer with a strong focus on women empowerment. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa and approaches every job as a friendship through the lens, she is passionate about capturing natural and real moments that are diverse and inclusive and believes these are the images that have the potential to manifest change.  

Along the beautiful landscapes of the Cape, Kat shared with us her journey into the PICHA Grant Program      

P: What theme did you choose and why?

K: I chose the theme “female gaze” because I have been focusing on boudoir and women empowerment photography the last two years and this seemed right up my alley.

P: What was the first thing you did when you found out you got the Grant?

K: I did a happy dance and squealed with happiness, for real :-)

P: What does getting the Grant mean to you?

K: Getting the grant to me, means that the world is ready and open to seeing and embracing a woman who is confident in herself and in putting herself out there. This makes me excited because I am loving the movement that I am seeing, where women are finding their voices and aren’t afraid to let the world know it.

I look forward to seeing where this takes all womenkind in 5 or 10 years. I have a feeling we will be seeing a lot more women in positions of power standing up and taking up space unapologetically and that is a very exciting thought. 

In true Kat fashion, she has already created the images for her concept and is ready to submit, well before the deadline and no doubt, on to her next opportunity to empower women.  

Download Kat's images here

About the PICHA Grant Program

At PICHA, we believe that original stories can change perceptions, that the visual content we provide, can shape the narrative around Africans, and the larger African diaspora. 

Started in 2021, The PICHA Grant Program is a space for our community to learn and grow in storytelling while creating visual content that resonates with the communities they represent. Learn more about the PICHA Grant Program and this year's Grant themes here.