Leslie Fratkin

Leslie Fratkin is a documentary photographer and storyteller whose work investigates the resilience of the human spirit in the face of social, political, and cultural upheaval. Moving fluidly between documentary photography, installation, and public art, she uses image-making as a tool to engage deeply with global and local communities. Her practice is grounded in the pursuit of truth through empathy, examining how people live, resist, and create under pressure —whether in war zones or on the streets of her New York City neighborhood.

Fratkin’s career spans decades and continents. In the 1990s, she traveled to the former Yugoslavia during the civil war to explore how artists continued their work under siege. This resulted in a book, an international exhibition, and public programming that included a talk with U.S. Secretary of State and architect of the Dayton Peace Accords that ended the war in Bosnia. Her long-form commitment to storytelling continued during the Covid-19 pandemic, when she launched a two-and-a-half-year street art intervention in Chelsea, NYC, combining photography, posters, and digital media in an evolving dialogue with her community. In 2021, she was commissioned by The New York Foundation for the Arts to transform a block of outdoor dining booths into a large-scale public exhibition.

Fratkin has exhibited extensively in the U.S. and internationally, and her work has been supported by fellowships and grants from institutions including the Soros Foundation, The New York Foundation for the Arts, and Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation. Her practice is driven by a commitment to document lived experience with clarity, compassion, and an unflinching dedication to truth.