Meet Sophi Rutherford! From Bellingham, Washington, Sophi is a passionate photographer and filmmaker and the winner of the Pull Focus Grant. Sophi started climbing when she was 14. She also had a passion for photography and videography at a young age, and it all came together when she was asked by a friend to shoot at The Cookie Cliff(an iconic crag) in Yosemite. She quickly fell in love with photographing climbers. Sophi says that when she heard about the Pull Focus Grant, she was stoked. She had wanted to work with Louder than Eleven for years and had even emailed them years back asking to work with them on some projects. "The grant itself was intriguing, there were these assets that made receiving a grant possible which was kind of a really big thing. Everything from the living stipend to housing.... I don't think I could have afforded to or been able to go to Boulder for three months and that was a pretty big draw." When asked why this grant feels uniquely important to Sophi, she mentioned that this grant will give her the opportunity to tell a story that she may not be able to pitch somewhere else, the kind of story that many brands won't fund, but which she finds incredibly important. She says: ... "It gives me a unique opportunity to use my voice and push the envelope a little bit with some brands. The biggest thing for me is that as a Hispanic and Japanese person of color, I've seen quite a bit of growth, but I've heard from many Black climbers that 'We've gotta stop being mushed in with everybody else, we are still underrepresented and our story isn't being told.' A lot of times we mush BIPOC into everybody but everybody's history and experience is so different. Black history is a different kind of heavy than Hispanic history or Asian history and I've always wanted to hear a specifically Black story about climbing. I want to be able to hand it over story-wise to someone who wants to use their voice but who may not have filmmaking skill or portfolio to." We're excited to follow Sophi on her journey in making this project a reality! Learn more about Pull Focus at the link in our bio. 📸: @sophirutherford #aacgram #pullfocusgrant