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Isa Leshko
"Elderly Animals"

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Bogart, Santa Cruz Sheep, Age 16, 2013/2015, Archival pigment print, courtesy of the artist & Richard Levy Gallery, Albuquerque, NM

Artist Statement
I am traveling to sanctuaries across the country to photograph animals at the end stage of their lives. I began this series after caring for my mom who had Alzheimer’s disease. Both my maternal grandmother and my mom developed dementia, so I am terrified of growing old. Photographing elderly animals enables me to confront this fear. In order to achieve a sense of intimacy in these portraits, I spend many hours with each animal I photograph. Frequently, I lie on the ground next to an animal for an hour or so before I take a single image in order to help that animal relax in my presence. A difficult aspect of this project is that the animals I bond with and photograph usually die within weeks to months after I meet them. Grief inspired this project and it also has become an inherent byproduct of making this work.

Artist Bio
Isa Leshko’s prints are in numerous private and public collections including the Boston Public Library, Fidelity Investments, the Harry Ransom Center, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Her images have been published in The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, The Guardian, Harper’s Magazine, and The New York Times. She was awarded the Houston Center for Photography Fellowship and the Silver Eye Center for Photography Keystone Award. Her work has been exhibited widely, including solo exhibitions at the Galveston Arts Center, the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Houston Center for Photography and the Silver Eye Center for Photography.