Portraits of Elderly Animals ~ by Photographer Isa Leshko

Artist statement by Isa Leshko
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 after I spent a year caring for my mother who has Alzheimer’s disease. I am taking these pictures to gain a deeper understanding about what it means to be mortal and to exorcise my fears 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.

Phyllis, Southdown Sheep, Age 13

Capuchin Monkey, Age 30+




"Looking at mortality and aging, that's not easy subject material. Some of the subjects do seem sad and tired, some of them are downright defiant and stare down the camera. I think these images are testaments to survival and endurance, and finding meaning and joy in life in the face of physical limitations and challenges." ~ Leshko

Violet, Potbellied Pig, Age 12

 Handsome One, Thoroughbred Horse, Age 33

 Blue, Australian Kelpie, Age 19

 Pumpkin, Morgan Arabian Horse, Age 28

Kelly, Irish Wolfhound, Age 11

Urban Ruins Self Portrait Nudes by Photographer Miru Kim

Miru Kim is a New York-based artist who has explored various urban ruins such as abandoned subway stations, tunnels, sewers, catacombs, factories, hospitals, and shipyards.

She was featured as one of America's Best and Brightest 2007 in Esquire magazine. Her work has been spotlighted in countless other international media such as The New York Times, TED.com, The Financial Times, ARTE France, Ovation TV, Time Out New York, NY Arts Magazine. Her work has been shown in various galleries, museums, and art fairs including Gallery HYUNDAI in Seoul, Queens Museum of Art in New York, National Museum of Visual Art in Montevideo, Coreana Museum in Seoul, SCOPE Basel, Miami International.

Miru was born in Stoneham, Massachusetts in 1981 and was raised in Seoul, Korea. She moved back to Massachusetts in 1995 to attend Phillips Academy in Andover, and moved to New York City in 1999 to attend Columbia University. In 2006, she received an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute.

see more behind the scenes here

Photographer Profile ~ Alex Prager

Alex Prager (American, born 1979), a self-taught photographer, takes her cues from pulp fiction, the cinematic conventions of movie directors such as Douglas Sirk and Alfred Hitchcock ( and the work of acclaimed photographer William Eggleston.) Resembling movie stills, her unnerving photographs—crisp, boldly colored, shot from unexpected angles, and dramatically lit—feature women disguised in wigs, dramatic makeup, and retro attire. Focusing on the actress’s face to capture one intense emotion, Prager engages in the construction of images that are intentionally loaded, reflecting her fascination with and understanding of cinematic melodrama. [via MoMA]

Alex's work was recently exhibited at MOMA as part of the 'New Photography 2010' exhibition.

*Click on images for larger view

Behind the Shot: "Since my mum had recently come back to live in LA, I used her in lots of the pictures, as well as her friends. I did a lot more setting up than usual – it was as if I was making a movie. I often watch old films for inspiration; if I like a scene, I'll pause it and take pictures of it. I don't remember the name of the movie that inspired this – it was a scene with Marilyn Monroe getting out of a taxi in the rain. I thought it looked beautiful, with her bright blond hair and yellow dress. I didn't want to recreate the image. I just wanted the idea of the rain and the taxi.

I shot this on the streets of LA. As I was using lights and a rain machine, I needed a permit. I'm really not used to doing things that way. I wanted a liquor store with a bit of colour and a quaint, old-fashioned feel. I drove around LA for three or four days looking. LA is so huge I can usually find what I want eventually.

The woman, Irene, was a friend of my mum's. She'd been a model in her 20s and was used to being taken care of. But we didn't have much of a budget: there was no trailer for her, the car was a fake and leaked. We couldn't control the rain machine, so she kept getting soaked; she was miserable and didn't want to get out of the taxi. I wanted her to look behind her like she was looking at something mysterious but the water was pounding down so hard she would only look down, to stay clear of all the leaks. I was trying to direct her with a walkie-talkie and she couldn't hear me. It was nuts.

And then she looked up for one second and that's the shot I got. Her face was perfectly lit. There's a lot of emotion in there – that's because she was unhappy for real." ~  Prager

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/

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Alex Prager was born in Los Angeles in 1979. She was raised by her grand- mother in a small apartment in the suburb of Los Feliz. Her nomadic upbringing saw her splitting her time between Florida, California, and Switzerland without truly settling down long enough for a formal education.

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/


Behind the scenes of Alex's photoshoot for BOTTEGA VENETA

Bottega Veneta SS'11 AOC with Alex Prager from BootLegs on Vimeo.

http://www.alexprager.com/

http://www.alexprager.com/




Accustomed to running a one-woman show on her shoots, where she usually plays photographer, stylist, set-designer and everything in between, Prager was ensnared by the collaborative nature of creating a film. “It’s like taking every art medium and melding it into one,” she says. “It’s incredible!”
http://www.alexprager.com/

Here are some fantastic shorts by Prager that were influenced by film classics.

Eraserhead


The Invisible Man



http://www.alexprager.com/



See more of these shorts here