Happy International Women's Day! Proponents of the arts should support female photographers all year long. However, today is a perfect opportunity to highlight a few people who deserve your attention and support. 

Here are seven women around the world capturing both fantasy and vivid truth through their work. On a more local note, we also recommend that you check out the living legends on our list of Black Photographers Who Shaped American History.

Nadine Ijewere was born to a Nigerian father and a Jamaican mother in southeast London. She initially thought she would study medicine (and had the grades to back it up) but soon fell in love with photography. She went on to study photography at the London College of Fashion. 

At age 26 she became the first woman of color to shoot the cover of Vogue—an achievement that was 125 years in the making. You can read more about her shoot on the Kentish coast for the December 2018 issue here. 

Felicia Simion is a 24-year-old artist based in Bucharest, Romania. She uses her MA degree in Ethnology, Cultural Anthropology and Folklore from the University of Bucharest to capture rich visuals in communities around the world. 

One of her ongoing projects is entitled Ethnographies. With this work, Felicia aims to "create visual records of customs and folkloric manifestations around contemporary rural Romania, in the context of depopulation and increasing phenomenon of migration." The series takes a closer look at regional practices in places like Maramureș, Oltenia, Vrancea, Transylvania, and villages located near Bucharest. 

The other project pictured in the slideshow below is entitled Not From Here. In this series, the artist explores the idea of otherness and what it means to be a "stranger."

Dana Scruggs was born in Chicago, IL. While she did not get an "official" education in photography, the 20-something artist is inspired by the likes of Kerry James Marshall, Kara Walker, Herb Ritts, and Viviane Sassen. Her unique approach to capturing the human form—specifically the Black, male form—has gained her international attention. 

Among her accolades, she is the first Black Person to ever photograph the cover of Rolling Stone in its 51-year history. 

Her ever-growing list of clients includes The New York Times, ESPN, Nike, InStyle, Chromat, GQ, CR Fashion Book, Beth Richards Swimwear, Foot Locker, and GODS Magazine. As if that isn't impressive enough, she also launched her own publication: SCRUGGS Magazine.

Deepti Asthana is a self-taught photographer based in Mumbai, India. As a girl, she struggled to adhere to the expectations of her community Indian culture at large. She started out paying her bills with money working in IT and began practicing photography on the side. Soon, she started her (literal) journey as a travel photographer which evolved into her ongoing project Women of India. 

Her work has been published in a multitude of outlets including BBC, Al Jazeera English, Der Spiegel, Daily Post, Huffington Post, and many more.

Amy Shore is a photographer based in the middle of the UK. She got her start after submitting spec photos of a Ferrari P4 to Octane Magazine. They politely declined, but their feedback encouraged Amy to continue practicing and submitting her work elsewhere. Today, she takes product and event shots for the automotive industry and became Nikon's youngest ever UK ambassador in May 2017. 

Amy works with top-tier automotive clients including Goodwood, Jaguar Land Rover, Octane Magazine, Evo Magazine, Revolution Magazine, Ramp Magazine, Lexus, and many more. 

Namsa Leuba is an international photographer and artist with Swiss-Guinean roots. She studied photography at ECAL, University of Art and Design Lausanne, and obtained a Masters in Art Direction at ECAL. 

Namsa her work to "question the way that African identities are viewed in the West" through performance art, fashion, and documentary film footage. It is also a means of exploring her heritage through ceremonies and rituals. 

Namsa's imagery has been published in The New Yorker, I-D, Numéro, KALEIDOSCOPE, Foam, Interview, Vice Magazine, New York Magazine, Le M, Libération, British Journal of Photography, and European Photography, and many more. 

Maia Flore was raised in France by a family who was not thrilled with her artistic pursuits. However, her love of photography spoke to her more than words or numbers ever could. She left home and studied painting and collage techniques at Les Gobelins, École de L'image. 

Once she mastered retouching, photography became her preferred form of expression. She has done an extensive number of shows since officially starting her career in 2012. Maia also does work for Kinfolk, Cartier, Le Monde, The Cut and recently published her first book: Rememories.