From Laura T. Coffey’s article for TODAY:
It’s been said that old age is the most unexpected of all the things that can happen to a person. But is it even more unexpected when it happens to a pig, or a horse, or a sheep, or a turkey?
Isa Leshko has given a lot of thought to that question. A few years back, the fine-art photographer was in the crucible, caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s disease and realizing that the woman she always knew as Mom was gone. Leshko couldn’t bring herself to photograph her mother in such a state of decline and vulnerability — but, almost irresistibly, she became fascinated by aging animals and began photographing them instead.
What began as a therapeutic pastime blossomed into a full-fledged photography project, which in turn has been transformed into a new book called “Allowed to Grow Old.” Though the issues they raise are heavy, Leshko’s photographs of elderly animals are touching and beautiful.