Melania de Leyva (Venice, 1988) is an Italian artist and self-taught photographer.
She began exploring photography through self-portraiture in 2009.
Her work focuses on themes of identity, representation, and transformation.
Through portraiture, self-portraiture, and symbolic elements, she examines the relationship between who we are, what we choose to reveal, and the roles we inhabit throughout our lives.
Her photographs explore how the perception of the self evolves through memory, experience, and the social influences that shape it.
Her work has been exhibited internationally in Paris, Venice, London, New York, and China.
AWARDS
- Honorable Mention, Prix de la Photographie Paris (PX3), 2020
- Honorable Mention, International Photography Awards (IPA), 2020
- Honorable Mention, Tokyo International Foto Awards (TIFA), 2023
- Finalist, Arte Laguna Prize, 2023-2024
- Chosen Winner, American Photography 40 (AI-AP), 2024
- Semifinalist, Royal Photographic Society IPE 167, 2026
