The word cholita has in the past been used as a pejorative term for the Indigenous Aymara women of Bolivia. But the women in these photographs are reclaiming the word: they are “Cholitas Escaladoras”, or climbing cholitas. In 2019, they summited the 6,961 metre (22,841ft) peak of Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the highest mountain outside Asia, while wearing traditional dresses and shawls. After reading about them in an article, photographer Todd Antony flew out to feature them in a series. “I wanted to capture their strength and pride,” he says. “In the very recent past, Aymara women were socially ostracised and systematically marginalised. Their act of climbing breaks the stereotypes associated with them and mirrors their rise out of oppression.”