LEANNE STAPLES

Leanne Staples is an independent licensed New York City tour guide, photographer, artist and writer. She specializes in unique, off the beaten track sightseeing and photography tours, as well as group street photography workshops throughout New York City.

Staples has participated in group exhibitions worldwide. She was the 2nd Place award recipient of World Art Day Street Photography by Oxford University Press and Street Hero Award by Black and White Street Magazine. Staples' work has appeared in numerous publications and books.

“Image making is what I live for. I create both visual images and words. My creative process is a process that has evolved out of failure. That is to say, a failure to neatly fit into any specific genres that I have tried out. When I am fortunate, images and words complement each other. They exist together as one complete expression. Embracing chance leads to happy accidents. Repetition leads to style and then boredom. Boredom leads to experimentation. The process begins as clumsy missteps and moves into something akin to dance. I call myself a backward painter. Unlearning grammar. Skirting the edges.

Curiosity as currency and camera as paint brush. My works explore the areas of the mind that tend to get lost in everyday rational thought. They represent the gaps between thoughts and words. Those areas that don’t easily translate into proper grammar. It has been through unlearning the rules that I have been able to find a medium to communicate. I emerge in the middle of my story.”