Visual Artist Leila Jeffreys
Leila
Jeffreys
Bird portraitist, artist-activist, author of three books. She photographs birds at human scale, inviting us into a relationship with wildlife built on depth of perception and startling emotional intimacy.
Leila Jeffreys · Sydney studio
"She is best known for images of birds, photographed at human scale, that explore and subvert the conventions of portraiture. She sees her avian subjects as living beings, part of a practice that expands viewers' hearts by drawing attention to interdependence between species."
Leila Jeffreys lives and works in Sydney, photographing birds at human scale in portraits that challenge the conventions of the form entirely. She has exhibited in Sydney, Melbourne, Paris, Brussels, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, New York and London. In 2023 her work was curated into The Best in Show at Fotografiska New York, part of an exhibition dedicated to animals in contemporary photography that toured Tallinn and Stockholm, and she featured alongside the world's most respected photographers at the Saatchi Gallery's Civilisation: The Way We Live Now. Her work is held in permanent collections that include Parliament House Canberra, the Hermès Collections of Contemporary Photographs, and the Museum of Photography in South Korea. Australia Post released a set of stamps of her images in 2022.
Her practice began with portraits: travel to meet with conservationists, ornithologists and bird sanctuaries, spending time with the birds in their care, then photographing them with a mobile studio setup. It has evolved, as she describes it, quite a lot. More and more her work involves large sets and teams of collaborators, to create conceptual work and video art installations. The video above is an example of why: when you slow a bird down to a speed the human brain can process, they become majestic. It stills the mind to observe them in awe.
I am endlessly fascinated and inspired by birds, as there are so many different species that have all evolved so differently. More recently experiencing awe in the Arctic has had a huge effect on me. Physically I've felt more motivated, more excited and energised by my love for the planet. Emotionally it made me care so deeply for all the wildlife that shares our planet. The energy of a place like the Arctic is so different to what you feel in a city. It has a different pulse. It's made me want to do what I do even more and to continue to inspire people to reconnect with wildlife and their own wild ways.
It has evolved quite a lot over the past few years. While I continue to photograph portraits of birds, which typically involves travel to meet with conservationists, ornithologists and bird sanctuaries to spend time with the birds in their care and then photographing them using a mobile studio set up, more and more my artwork involves large sets and teams of collaborators to create more conceptual work and video art installations. One common aspect is the many, many hours in post-production. I live with the images for a very long time and the emotional connection develops as I build each series of work.
"Our eyes and brain can finally take in how incredible birds are when viewing them at a speed we can process. They are normally so fast but when slowed down, they are majestic, and it stills the mind to observe them in awe."
Leila JeffreysCertainly Joost Bakker. He is the poster child for zero waste and has been called a visionary, disruptor and environmental activist. He is championing a world without waste, with urban farms and cities that sustain themselves. I was lucky to visit his project, Future Food System in Melbourne, a zero-waste productive house open to the public for lunch and dinner where all the food cooked and served is grown on site, and the house generates its own energy. The bigger goal is to decentralise our food system, as it is the most destructive thing humans do: it causes deforestation, land clearing, desertification and loss of biodiversity.
It means taking time away from our mental world and immersing myself in nature. In winter I enjoy cold water swimming in the ocean. The ocean pools in Sydney are a favourite haunt for me and my family all year round, and we love snorkelling too: it takes you to a completely different headspace observing the underwater world. I also practice yoga and meditation, back on dry land.
I will be travelling to Antarctica with the Australian Antarctic Division to learn about the scientific work being done there and to study seabirds for a major book with Thames and Hudson and an exhibition. Antarctica. I am still pinching myself.
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