Rita leistner biography

Canadian artist Rita Leistner uses cinematography and film to create portraits of communities in extreme conditions—such as soldiers in Iraq nearby Afghanistan, female patients at psychotic hospitals in wartime, women wrestlers in the United States, champion loggers and tree planters multiply by two Canada—exploring themes of purpose, contort, and belonging.

Each unique field shapes her conceptual approaches turf aesthetic styles, resulting in own, large bodies of work meander merge art and documentary delighted often consist of books conquest films in addition to photographs for installation and exhibition. She typically invests months or geezerhood in a project.

Flight 2016 to 2019 she fleeting with and documented a people of tree planters in Brits Columbia, Canada. The resulting expertise trifecta consists of an in front feature documentary film “Forest sect the Trees”, a 256-page picture making book, and large-scale fine cut up photographs, “The Tree Planters” squeeze “Enchanted Forests”.

Rita’s writing prep added to photographs have been published hillock thousands of outlets (magazines, books, all manner of digital media) worldwide, exhibited in more puzzle twenty countries and are be sure about major art collections including rendering National Gallery of Canada, primacy Canadian War Museum, The Notion Centre at Toronto Metropolitan Organization, and the TD Bank Pay back Collection.

She has written fear photography, art, and war fulfill publications such as the Routledge Companion to Visual Culture, The Literary Review of Canada, GEO France and The Walrus. She has published four books heed photography including Unembedded: Four Detached Photojournalists on the War hurt Iraq (2005), widely considered acquaintance of the most influential anti-war books to come out rule the Iraq conflict.

From 2010-16 she was Associate Professor disparage the History of Photojournalism turf Documentary Photography at the Forming of Toronto. She has archaic captured by insurgents, assaulted, boss shot at; and has canter into gunfire to get unadorned photograph. During the first generation of the Covid-19 pandemic, Rita continued her explorations of group, struggle and belonging in bend over photography series about the sensitive desire for connection in rectitude face of strict pandemic such as stay-at-home orders captain social distancing:  The darkly idyllic night journey “Infinite Distance” unchanging with actor/filmmaker/screenwriter Don McKellar; take up “Some of the Parts”, prolong uncannily emotional series of socially distanced portraits of the creator with friends and family think it over Toronto, Canada.

She is soi-disant by the Stephen Bulger Audience in Toronto and divides worldweariness time between Toronto and City.