A Photographer Captured Rescue Animals Who Escaped Slaughterhouses Or Farms

Photographer Isa Leshko got frightened of growing old after seeing her mother battling with Alzheimer’s.

However, she found a solution to face her fear. Leshko started photography and captures rescued farm animals. Turkeys, pigs, pretty much any critter you can think of who escaped the slaughterhouse or some other grim place.

After working on the project, Leshko has released a wonderful book Allowed to Grow Old: She Portrait Elderly Animals from Farm Sanctuaries and started to shift her approach to the series from dealing with anxiety to activism. The photographer now using her pictures to speak on behalf of these and other abused animals.

Leshko approached these images as fine-art portraits.point 47 | “For an image to appear in my book it couldn’t be simply a beautiful picture of a cow or a pig; it had to be a portrait of Bessie or Teresa,” she said.point 184 | “I selected images that revealed something unique about that animal or conveyed emotion.point 266 |

I wanted viewers of these images to recognize that these animals are sentient beings who think and feel and who want to grow old in comfort, just like we do.point 128 | ”point 135 | 1

“I think most photography doesn’t fall neatly into one box or the other.point 323 |

There are documentary components to the work: in my book, I include details about each animal’s life before they were rescued.point 112 | I also included lengthier biographical stories about a handful of animals.point 176 | But I made creative choices in post-production that I would not have made if these images were documentary photographs.point 277 |

For example, if a background was distracting, I darkened it, or if an animal had straw running along her face in a manner that I think was distracting I removed it.point 134 | I would never have done this if I viewed the work as a documentary project.point 195 | I identify primarily as an artist and then as an activist.point 243 |

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The photographer said that farm animals don’t behave uniformly.point 294 |

“Like the dogs and cats we share our homes with, these animals have distinct personalities.point 83 | Some are very outgoing and affectionate, others are shy and reserved.point 142 | ”point 149 | 1

Leshko met many animals for her project, and most of them were rescued from horrific situations involving abuse and neglect.point 370 |

“These animals are trauma survivors, and some are understandably wary of new people.point 78 | For these animals, in particular, I spent a lot of time with them before even taking a single photo.point 160 | I often spent days with a single animal to develop a rapport with him.point 217 |

I wanted the animals I photographed to be as relaxed as possible so I could depict their true personalities.point 90 | ”point 97 | 1

She wasn’t interested in capturing the animals reacting to her presence.point 178 | “I wanted to be as invisible as possible so I could observe them behaving naturally and comfortably.point 268 |

If any animal seemed uncomfortable with me, I would not photograph them.point 61 | Although animals cannot provide verbal consent to being photographed, they are excellent at communicating when they wish to be left alone.point 179 | ”point 186 | 1

She wanted to photograph them on their terms and not her own.point 160 | “For this reason, I worked with natural light and did not use any artificial lighting that might be disruptive to the animals.point 271 |

I also photographed the animals at eye-level because I wanted viewers of my images to gaze directly into their eyes.point 97 | This meant spending hours contorting my body in odd positions while lying in mud and animal scat.point 178 | ”point 185 | 1

“Nearly all of the farm animals I met for this project endured horrific abuse and neglect before their rescue.point 208 |

Yet it is a massive understatement to say that they are the lucky ones,” the photographer added.point 86 | “Roughly fifty to seventy billion land animals are factory farmed globally each year.point 165 | It is nothing short of a miracle to be in the presence of a farm animal who has managed to reach old age.point 248 |

Most of their kin die before they are six months old.point 43 | By depicting the beauty and dignity of elderly farm animals, I invite reflection upon what is lost when these animals are not allowed to grow old.point 164 | ”point 171 | 1

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