Leonora Anzaldua hates third-person bios; so this bio is first-person.

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I am a photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, CA. My passion lies in amplifying the stories of underrepresented peoples in photography and film--and in making art for social change.

 

I trained in photography as an undergraduate at Yale University, where I learned from Timothy Davis and Gregory Crewdson the power of art to transcend aesthetics to prioritize meaning and communication. Theorists Brian Herrera and Laura Wexler grounded me in scholarship of race, gender, and representation.

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I later earned my MFA at USC's School of Cinematic Arts, where I concentrated in cinematography and directing. There I was honored with many scholarships, including the HSF Cheech Marin Award, the NHFA Scholarship in 2010 and 2011, as well as the SUN Cinematography Award in 2011. I earned a mentorship with Michael Goi, ASC, and happily worked in his camera department on "American Horror Story Season II: Asylum."

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My work includes staged self-portrait work; documentary photography of protests against the Trump administration; and narrative, documentary, and commercial motion picture work.