Dwarfdom: Sofiya

“I had a nightmare once, I was six feet tall and I was literally scared of my own height,” says 21-years old Sofiya Cheyenne Perez. 

She is just above four feet tall and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Dwarfdom is a photography essay and a short documentary that tells the story of Sofiya, Clinton, Justin and Jahmani, who are all around four feet tall. (Here are Sofiya's photos.)

“It is a whole other world down here. Elbows, butts and the corners of women’s purses are at my face level. And there is always someone staring,” Sofiya says. 

She is dating Clinton Brown III, who is also a little person. “I think life is a big game of Poker. God is the dealer and he gives us our cards and we have to play them. This is my hand and I’m going to have the most fun playing it,” Clinton says.

Dwarfdom was awarded and exhibited at the New York Photo Festival 2012 in the category documentary series and multimedia. The series was also a finalist for the PHotoEspana OjodePez Award for Human Values 2011. The short documentary has its Europe’s premier at the Helsinki International Film Festival this month.

Trailer https://vimeo.com/42853602

Maija Tammi 

EDUCATION Dec 2010, Master of Social Sciences 
University of Tampere, Finland, major: visual journalism 
OCCUPATION September 2006---present, freelance photographer and journalist 
Main employees: Helsingin Sanomat, A-lehdet (a-lehdet.fi), Otavamedia 
EXHIBITIONS AND NOMINATIONS 
August 2012 Solo Exhibtion at GalleriZEBRA in Karjaa, Finland. 
More info: www.gallerizebra.fi 
May 2012 New York Photo Festival award in two categories: documentary series and multimedia. 
The documentary series exhibited at the festival in May 2012 and in September 2012. More info: nyph.at 
February 2012 Nominee for World Press Photos’s Joop Swart Masterclass 2012 
More info: www.worldpressphoto.org/joop-swart-masterclass 
March 2012, Photo essay of the year 2011 with the series Removals More info www.suomenlehtikuvaajat.fi 
November 2011, Fotofinlandia award. 
More info www.fotofinlandia.fi 
Autumn 2011 Finalist for PHotoEspaña OjodePez Award for Human Values with series Dwarfdom. 
The winner and finalist works were published in OjodePez 26 and the works will tour as an exhibition at the venues of FNAC Spain and Portugal. More info: www.ojodepez.org 
September 21, 2011---October 23, 2011 Les Visas de l'ANI exhibition at gallery Bar Floreal in Paris, France. Group exhibition with Lurdes Basoli and Francesco Alesi. More info www.ani-asso.fr/les-laureats-des-visas-de-lani-2010 
March 16, 2011 Press photographer of the year 2010 
More info www.suomenlehtikuvaajat.fi 
March 26, 2010 Public's choise for the press photographer of the year 2009 
More info www.suomenlehtikuvaajat.fi 
July 2, 2009---August 30, 2009, Friends Forever exhibition with the series Arcade Gaze 
Drake Hotel, Toronto, Canadas 
May 9, 2009, Magnum workshop show with the series Game Over
Camera Bar, Toronto, Canada 
April 17---April 23, 2009, In the Soil Arts Festival with a stop motion piece Spectacle. 
St. Catharines, Canada 
February 27, 2009, 24 Film Festival winner with a co-operation piece I always knew you are weird. Brock University competition, St. Catharines, Canada.