In many cities and small communities across Canada, the individuals and families that experience homelessness are often invisible to the greater community around them. People may walk by or see someone that is homeless, yet they feel a disconnection. They see homelessness as an experience that happens to "other people" not something that could ever affect them. However, Leah's work bridges the gap between "us" and "them" by bringing humanity to all the faces of these individuals. Leah does a wonderful job of highlighting the heart and the struggle that everyone can relate to. People that experience homelessness have families, they have favorite foods, pets, jobs, goals, and dreams along with their struggles. Leah's photographs capture the story of homelessness with all of its rich complexity in an image and through conversation.
Gail Hoekstra, Executive Director; and Carlin Dykstra, Housing Stability Support Worker, Welcome In Drop-In Centre
Author Biography:
Leah is an 18-year-old Canadian photographer and author. Since the age of 13, she has been mentored by Joel Sartore, a National Geographic photographer and Fellow. For the past four years, she has been traveling, with her dad, to cities throughout the world to photograph people experiencing homelessness and record their stories, such as Toronto, New York, and Brisbane. In July 2017, CBC's The National aired a mini-documentary about Leah. Since then her career has taken off. Most recently, she has been interviewed by, or appeared on, the BBC, the Corriere della Sera (the largest newspaper in Italy), 7Days (a newspaper in the Netherlands), Global News, the Toronto Star, CBC radio, CBC's The Goods, Chatelaine, Toronto Life, and The Agenda with Steve Paikin, to name just a few. She has also spoken at such events as WE Day Toronto 2017, Women of the World 2018, and Cambridge She Talks 2018. Leah was recently the recipient of the Murray Clerkson Award, presented by the Blue Mountain Foundation of the Arts. She is currently in her first year at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, where she is taking a four-year photography course.
