the dignity & beauty of elderly animals

Photographer Isa Leshko has been "travelling to sanctuaries across the country to photograph animals that are elderly or at the end stage of their lives."  Prompted by helping to care for her mother with Alzheimer’s disease, and time spent with an elderly blind horse, Leshko hopes that the photos will help herself and others wrestle with the difficult realities of aging and mortality.  And she also hopes that the images will encourage people to look at animals, especially farm animals, in a different and more empathetic light.

You can read more at Leshko's "Elderly Animals" project artist statement, and view the photos here.  In black and white, they really do capture a unique beauty and dignity of some of the more venerable members of God's animal creation.  Leshko mentions fighting back tears at some of her shoots, in the following short from Walley Films about the project, which in itself is very moving:

(sincere thanks to Mark Lentz for sharing this project with me, via Feature Shoot; screenshot below from "Elderly Animals: Photographs by Isa Leshko" by Walley Films)