Leah Hennel 

Leah Hennel is an award-winning photojournalist. A graduate of Southern Alberta Institute of Technology’s photojournalism program, she’s worked for more than 20 years for daily newspapers in Calgary. Her work has also appeared in publications around the world including the Globe and Mail, The Guardian, Maclean’s, Canadian Geographic, The Narwhal, Getty Images, Reuters, and CBC. She has covered two Paralympic Winter Games, Sochi and Rio, and the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Games for Postmedia, and the Paris 2024 Summer Games, Tokyo 2020 Summer Games, and Beijing 2022 Winter Games for the Canadian Olympic Committee. Hennel has published two photography books: Along the Western Front and Alone Together: A Pandemic Photo Essay.

Website: Leah Hennel Photography
Instagram/Threads: @leahhennelphoto

FESTIVAL BOOKS

Alone Together: A Pandemic Photo Essay 

Leah Hennel has been documenting Alberta’s frontline workers and the COVID-19 patients they care for as an Alberta Health Services staff photographer since the early days of the pandemic. Showcasing the lives of those who refused to give up in the face of adversity, Hennel’s photographs beautifully illustrate how citizens, doctors, nurses, and patients in Alberta have adapted and found safe new ways to celebrate, socialize, and work during a time of global chaos. At the same time, these sensitive and haunting images dramatically illustrate how Albertans have dealt with the death, tragedy, and uncertainty that the pandemic has wrought upon the province.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a watershed moment in world history. In many ways, it has reshaped the way we live our lives, and many of its effects will live on. As time goes by, though, the memory of these past months will start to fade and life will eventually ease back into some kind of normalcy. But these photographs and the stories they tell will always be here, providing a record of this historic event and a reminder that catastrophe can strike at any time.

Stories of resilience and courage, of suffering and celebration, are everywhere in today’s world. Alone Together shines a revelatory light on one particular place during an unprecedented—and ongoing—global event.

GET THE BOOK

Owl’s Nest Books | Calgary Public Library

Along the Western Front

Growing up in the city, Leah Hennel would spend summers with her cousins on a farm near Stettler, Alberta, about halfway between Calgary and Edmonton. The ranching and farming lifestyle intrigued and fascinated her from an early age, though she could already see that it was not an easy life to live. It’s always been hard work, but one of the glories of living it is that those who are able to deal with its gritty realities are rarely shackled to a desk or an ordinary suburban life. In this time of high-speed everything, the rural life is a calling that requires patience and know-how. The appeal is the general simplicity of the lifestyle and its regular exposure to the beauty of the landscape.

Most people, however, never get a glimpse of this way of life. They get their daily sustenance from supermarkets and rarely give a thought to where these necessities come from or how they’re produced. But whether city folks realize it or not, ranching and farming will always be vitally important.

Hennel specializes in and is passionate about documenting rural life. Through her always remarkable, vibrant and at times intensely personal photographs, she is able to both celebrate this essential pursuit and, in doing so, perhaps educate those who are less familiar with it.

Along the Western Front represents a fresh perspective on this iconic way of life and introduces photography enthusiasts to one of photojournalism’s more evocative shooters.

GET THE BOOK

Owl’s Nest Books | Calgary Public Library

BE CURIOUSER

• Calgarians We Love: Leah Hennel. –Avenue Magazine
• Finalists Announced for National Pictures of the Year. –News Photographers Association of Canada
• Q&A with Leah Hennel. –Applied Arts