Isa Leshko

Astrological Sign

Gemini

A Favorite Quote

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." Anais Nin

Photographic Influences

Richard Avedon, Diane Arbus, Jane Hinds Bidaut, Sally Mann, Nicholas Nixon, Gary Winogrand, Robert Adams, among many others.

Photographic Education

Workshops at the New England School of Photography and the Center for Photography at Woodstock. I also learned a great deal from assisting commercial photographers and from working at Zona Photo Labs, a professional photography lab in Cambridge, MA that sadly closed in 2006.

Current Reading Material

From Here to There: Alec Soth’s America

Recent Photographic Project

I’m currently working on two projects: Elderly Animals and Thrills & Chills.

Most Interesting Assignment or Previous Occupation?

I studied neuroscience in college and almost went to grad school for it. During my 20s, I worked for dot.com startups in various geeky roles. My first job was as a reporter for my local newspaper where I worked during my summer breaks when I was a teenager.

Project Statement

I am traveling to sanctuaries across the country to photograph animals that are elderly or at the end stage of their lives. I began the series as a means of exploring my feelings about my mother’s decline due to Alzheimer’s Disease. As I’ve worked on this project, though, I’ve come to realize that these images are a testament to survival and endurance.