Claudia Leisinger
London, United Kingdom
Based in London since 2002, I spent my early childhood in India and Bhutan, before returning to my native Switzerland in 1980.
I completed an MA course in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication in 2007. My final project "The Changes Within: Bhutan Between Monarchy and Democracy" was a story documenting Bhutan's shift towards its first-ever democratic elections. It was later published in the NZZ (Neue Zuercher Zeitung).
I am especially drawn to subjects of migration, employment and environment; to stories and situations of imminent change. Looking at ordinary people, institutions and geographical areas on the cusp of events that, though sometimes appear subtle, can often have huge and wide-ranging effects on their lives or status.
“The Last of the Billingsgate Fish Porters” documented how 150 men lost their much-loved jobs when the City of London Corporation enforced the removal of a centuries-old tradition to ultimately increase profits. The bigger story is the loss of working-class manual labour and the attached communities all across Europe and the effects this has on our society.
My multimedia piece on the Billingsgate Porters was published in the Guardian UK, shown at Night Contact, London’s first Multimedia Festival as well as published on Foto8. It was exhibited in a solo exhibition at the Maz Galerie in Luzern, Switzerland and I won several awards for this body of work.
Alongside these projects I work as freelance photographer and filmmaker for magazines (The Telegraph Magazine, The Big Issue) charities (Red Cross, Lead International, Mentor, B.HUG, Tourettes Action, St Michael's Fellowship) institutions (Chatham House, BMW Foundation, Earth Security Group) Think tanks (OnThinkTank, The Hague Institute for Global Justice).
I also shoot portraits commissioned by individuals & am very interested in creating multimedia profiles.
2016 - Portrait of Britain, 2013 - Night Contact Multimedia festival 2013, 2013 - KL International Photo Awards , 2012 - Joan Wakelin Bursary 2012 , 2012 - International Photography Awards, 2012 - Assoc. of Photographers (AOP) + 2009, 2012 - Foto8 2012 + 2009
- Editorial
- Environment
- Events
- Interior
- Interview
- Landscape
- Portrait
- Still life
- Video capture
- Video editing
