Leila Jeffreys

The Herald's photographer Peter Rae is thrilled to meet my lunch date, Leila Jeffreys.

"This is great," he gushes. "I've seen your work for ages and ages. I want to stand here and just go 'Wow', it's so gorgeous'."

Leila Jeffreys’ remarkable portraits of rescue bird.

For Wonder, a rare albino turkey vulture, life can be trying. His terrible eyesight means that “he is afraid of his own shadow”, says Australian photographer Leila Jeffreys. He was found face down in the snow in Michigan and is now at a Californian rescue centre, where Jeffreys took his portrait. “There is a gentleness to him that makes me melt,” she says.

Online design publication Yellwtrace have recently featured Leila Jeffreys on their website with an interview. Leila talks about the personal significance of her practice as well as some of the ideas behind her latest exhibition Prey, currently on show at Olsen Irwin.
"Prey is a celebration of what makes Australia special and is a reminder that one of our biggest assets soars in the skies above us." - Leila Jeffreys

Leila Jeffreys' photography features on the cover of the Australian Geographic March-April 2014 issue. The work will be part of Jeffreys' upcoming Olsen Irwin exhibition Native Australian Birds of Prey in September 2014. Pictured in the work is a wedge-tailed eagle named Soren, belonging to Paul Mander, a licensed raptor trainer and owner of Broadwings, a center dedicated to the conservation of raptors in Australia. Jeffrey's has worked closely with Mander over the past year and a half in preparation for the upcoming exhibition.

"Prey is a celebration of what makes Australia special and is a reminder that one of our biggest assets soars in the skies above us." - Leila Jeffreys, 2014

Leila Jeffreys finds her wings giving flight to birdlife as art.

Meet Slim, a sulphur-crested cockatoo snapped by Leila Jeffreys as part of her native Australian cockatoo portrait series. Her photographs, printed at over one metre tall, capture the endearing personalities of these beloved birds, from shy and sweet to downright cheeky. 7–25 November, Tim Olsen Gallery, 63 Jersey Road, Woollahra NSW; timolsengallery.com.

I have always had an inexplicable fascination with birds, particularly the unique array we have here in Australia – from Lorikeets to Lyrebirds and everything in between.