Jennifer Leeman

Born in Boston, MA, Jennifer now lives in Washington DC and works as a professor of Spanish linguistics at George Mason University. Her research and her photography share an interest in issues of representation, whether via language, visual images, or the built environment. Her photographs have appeared in numerous galleries and exhibits, including the Kathleen Ewing Gallery and the Target Gallery (Torpedo Factory), as well as several books.

Jennifer photographs small toys that she places in real world environments, utilizing perspective (rather than digital manipulation or montage) to make them appear life size. Her images seem to capture both motion and emotion. By making inanimate figures look lifelike, her work explores the flip side of the common notion that the photographic gaze objectifies. However, toys are objects, highlighting that any emotion conveyed in these images is imposed by the photographer and the viewer, rather than the photographic subject itself.

The triptychs in Triple Play include a miniature tightrope walker balancing high above the Chueca neighborhood in Madrid, tiny sword swallowers performing in Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, and diminutive swimmers gliding through the deep end in Washington DC's Adams Morgan neighborhood. Other triptychs include: firefighters battling a blaze in Washington DC, dog owners strolling in Portland Oregon, an encounter/farewell in Quebec City, a cyclist riding through Amsterdam, farmers toiling at in Maryland, Virginia and Quebec, penitents taking part in the Holy Week procession in Seville, and commuters riding the subway in New York Ciity and Washington DC.

In the Animals series, Jennifer plays with traditional wildlife photography, and the domestication and commodification of nature by photographing plastic toys in natural settings.  

Contact: jennyleeman@gmail.com