I am traveling to sanctuaries across the country to photograph animals that are elderly or at the end stage of their lives. I began this series shortly after I had spent a year caring for my mother who has Alzheimer’s disease. When my mother got ill, I made a conscious decision to not photograph her. But caring for her had a profound impact on me and I knew the experience would influence my photography. Shortly after I had returned home, I encountered a blind elderly horse that was living on a relative’s property. I was mesmerized by this animal and spent the afternoon photographing him. After reviewing my film, I realized I had found a project that would enable me to sift through my feelings around my mother’s illness.
In order to achieve a sense of intimacy in these portraits, I spend several hours with the animals I photograph and try to visit them multiple times. Depending on the animal, I may spend an hour or so simply lying on the ground next to the creature before I take a single image. This approach helps the animal acclimate to my presence and it allows me to observe the animal without being focused on picture taking.
I am creating these photographs to exorcise my fear of aging. I have come to realize that these images are self-portraits, or at the very least, they are manifestations of my fears and hopes about what I will be like when I am old.
Isa Leshko is a photographer living in Philadelphia, PA. She has exhibited her work widely throughout the United States, including solo shows at the Corden|Potts Gallery, the Galveston Arts Center, the Griffin Museum of Photography, the Houston Center for Photography, the Silver Eye Center for Photography, and the Richard Levy Gallery. Her work is in numerous private collections and has been purchased by the Boston Public Library, Haverford College, and Museum of Fine Arts, Houston for their permanent collections.
Isa’s work has been reviewed and published throughout the globe, including coverage in The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, The Guardian, Harper’s Magazine NPR, Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin (SZ-Magazin), The Washington Post, and Zoom Magazine. She received the 2012 Houston Center for Photography Fellowship and the 2012 Silver Eye Center for Photography Keystone Award. She was also nominated for the 2011 Santa Fe Prize for Photography and was named a finalist for the 2011 New Orleans Photo Alliance Clarence John Laughlin Award.
Isa’s work is represented by the Corden|Potts Gallery in San Francisco, CA and the Richard Levy Gallery in Albuquerque, NM.
Her work is also represented by the Corden|Potts Gallery in San Francisco, CA and she has two shows this month
May 4-June 23
Elderly Animals, Houston Center for Photography
Houston, TX
May 11-July 14
Elderly Animals, Silver Eye Center for Photography
Pittsburgh, PA
