PRESS | MEDIA

For media inquiries and creative projects: press@elena-levon.com

ONE WOMAN. MANY LIVES.

Elena Levon is a Russian-American artist, author, filmmaker, and explorer whom photographer Robert Farber has described as a modern-day Renaissance woman.

Author of Naked Poetry—endorsed by Lionel Richie and shaped through collaborations with internationally recognized artists—her work reflects more than two decades of travel across six continents and over 100 countries.

Her path has taken her from private circles at the highest levels of global culture and leadership to some of the world’s most remote and demanding environments: documenting Yanomami funerary rituals (endocannibalism) in the Amazon, living in the Darien Gap, interviewing rebels in Mali, traversing the Sahara, and surviving Category 5 Cyclone Winston in Fiji.

In 2023, with no prior sailing experience, Elena Levon purchased the 47-foot sailing yacht Rebels and began offshore sailing expeditions that have since taken her more than 11,000 nautical miles across the Atlantic Ocean. Based on available public records and documented sailing routes, in 2026 Elena Levon became the first woman to sail and anchor a private yacht double-handed in Liberia (West Africa), and the first woman to co-captain a private, non-commercial sailing yacht in a rare double-handed crossing of the central Gulf of Guinea—one of the least-traveled and most dangerous maritime regions in the world.

Today, Elena Levon is transforming those experiences into books, photography, films, and humanitarian work.

NAKED POETRY BY ELENA LEVON (2025)

"Elena, this is what it's all about! You are very special to me. You are a true Renaissance woman."
— ROBERT FARBER, iconic fine art photographer and author of eleven photography books, exhibited worldwide
www.farber.com

"You wear naked so well — it comes off calm and natural from you and your imagination."
— LIONEL RICHIE, legendary musician and author of Truly: An Inspirational Journey Through the Life of a Musical Legend
www.lionelrichie.com

"You inspire me, Elena! 'Lessons people taught me'... so true. A lifetime of truth in a few phrases."
— ANDRA WATKINS, New York Times bestselling author and acclaimed speaker
www.andrawatkins.com

“I refuse to believe that a woman must surrender one part of herself to earn the right to another.” — Elena Levon

“Voices of War: Mali — Broken Trust. Months before the coup. One woman crossed the lines of fear to hear the voices of war.”

(January / February 2020. Film released in 2021)

“The Quintessence of Life — One woman. Six continents. Ten years. One extraordinary search for the meaning of life. Elena Levon's documentary explores life, death, love and humanity through extraordinary encounters with cultures around the world, while revealing her own deeply personal journey.” (2023)

Sailing the Last Frontier: Double-Handed Across the Central Gulf of Guinea

Featured in Yachting World: “We sailed through the world’s most dangerous place to sail” ("Off African Shores" in the print edition. “Icons” issue August 2026) Pirates, storms. and the kindness of strangers.

ART WORLD

Photo credit - Landon Nordeman

New York Fashion Week