Testimonials

Megancita - Salt Lake City, UT

I’ve had the pleasure of co-creating with Leela on a few different occasions. She has a uniquely fun way of holding space to gently, and not so gently, extract familiar and sometimes foreign aspects of myself to be immortalized in that moment, at that time. Seeing myself through her artful eye is a gift for which I am grateful.

Melissa - Connecticut

I’ve done several portrait sessions with Leela over the years and they are consistently my favorite photos of myself. I’ve worked with many awesome photographers, but working with Leela is different. She creates such a relaxed environment it is easy to allow the authentic self shine through. Leela can be silly and weird, which makes the work together fun. Through the openness that is created the pictures always turn out beautifully. I highly recommend this skilled creature if you are ready to see your soul essence shine through in your portraits.

Queen Amanda - Milky Way Galaxy

Having Leela take your photo is like being wrapped in a warm blanket and coming home. That might seem like an exaggeration but deeply and truly, it is not. Having your photo taken can be an uncomfortable experience, being gazed at, posing, wondering if you look “good” enough. But Leela brings something else to these shoots. I never felt like I was an object, rather I felt like I was being understood. She has the ability to make you feel like you are truly old friends. The depths of yourself are extremely present and Leela has the ability to bring that out of you in an emotionally secure and seductive way. Shooting with her is like playing and discovering. I always came out renewed and excited.

Maya - Nevada City, CA

Within a 24 hour period, I stumbled onto Leela’s work on Instagram, met her, scheduled my shoot, and ended up deep in a life changing soul contract with her, co-creating this magnificence. I am still processing the powerful magic that we each embody and brought forth together. I am so grateful for these exquisite photos that capture my essence and have shifted the way I see myself.

Megan - Oakland, CA

Ayahuasca once showed me what I would look like and feel like in the future; the woman I would become. This vision has fueled my entire journey to Self. It was not until working with Leela and her actually bringing what I saw to life, intuitively (she never knew about the vision,) that it all felt real and I truly believed. I’ve never trusted someone so much to hold me in such an intimate space. It was truly medicine.

GG - Laguna Beach, CA

When I first came across Leela’s work I was transfixed. To say that her work is art is to grossly undermine it, as it is so much more than that. What Leela captures is not just a hypnotizing image, but the product of a transformational journey taken by the subject. Behind each image is a path taken, arms stretched beyond the container they are used to fitting in, an expansive breath, a scream that has raged from deep within.

For me, being a seemingly buttoned up attorney, my perception of who I could be within the space of Leela’s work, seemed limited. Were there wildflowers growing under my polished garden? Was there a magic within me that could run untamed after a lifetime of controlling it? These thoughts concerned me, and I feared not being able to bring my vision, or Leela’s to life. All my concerns were unfounded. Within five minutes of meeting Leela it was like she had been my friend forever. She immediately assured me that I didn’t have to be any particular type of anything, and the photographs did not need to fit into any sort of pre-conceived notion. I felt instantly comfortable.

My shoot with Leela took place at a time in my life when I was fully stepping into my authenticity and Leela saw that brimming underneath my reserved exterior. She did not pose me for the photographs, she guided me into stepping into the image. We were no longer in a photoshoot, but on a journey together, human to human, as friends. Each resulting image was a sound, a whimper, a scream, a sigh, a moan. I was a lawyer, but I was also Persephone, and Virginia Woolf, a raging wildfire, a soft river. With her vision, I shed the protective layers I have been hiding under and wore my vulnerability as clothing. What Leela gives you is an outstretched hand on a journey, and what results is an image of the soft animal within. I would work with Leela over and over again and am so grateful for the gift she gave me.