Meet Isadora Kosofsky | Documentary Photographer & Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Isadora Kosofsky and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Isadora, other than deciding to work for yourself, what else do you think played a pivotal role in your story?
When I was a teenage photojournalist, I tried everything to gain access to a juvenile detention center to create a face visible, humanistic documentation of incarcerated youth. It wasn’t until I was eighteen that a facility responded and said they were interested in allowing me in to complete this project. I had already moved across the country to college. Right before my first day, I received a call from a superintendent at a youth prison in the Pacific Northwest. I was confronted with two decisions: either stay in college or leave, without knowing what would happen, and pursue photographing inside a juvenile prison. I chose the latter and it was the greatest decision of my career. Many people in my life were shocked; why leave art school to go on the road and pursue a project whose outcome was uncertain? The decision to pursue my career as a documentary photographer at that point was incredibly challenging, but it also shaped me as a storyteller and as a human. This singular decision to throw myself into my creative life had led to many projects and meaningful bonds; I have shadowed multiple young people I met just during those first few months on the road and inside juvenile detention centers in the US. Most significantly, this time period led to experiences and relationships that pushed me to the brink and forced me to reckon with my own history and growing identity. Being on the road at that age was an education of a lifetime that I could not have received in a conventional setting. I both lost myself and gained myself in those years; my empathy expanded and I learned to trust my intuition. Eventually, I went back to college; I ended up at UCLA, while simultaneously working as a photographer. Nostalgia for my time as an 18-year-old photographer colors many memories. I recognize that there was a lot of pain, hardship, uncertainty and loss in those years. At the same time, as is often the case, beauty, grace and transformation also existed alongside the trials and tribulations.
 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I am a documentary photographer and filmmaker based in Los Angeles. I began photographing at the age of fourteen, documenting individuals in hospice care. I take an immersive approach to visual storytelling, spending months and years embedded in the lives of the people I shadow. For me, the relationships formed with the people I photograph are tantamount to the image-making. I truly feel that relationships and the trust the goes with them allows for people to feel comfortable in front of me; genuine connection allows for the work to deepen. I work on a range of subject matters through the lens of one individual or group of people. I have documented healthcare, aging, mental health, disability rights, the impacts of incarceration, substance use, gender violence, childhood trauma, and experiences of grief, loss, and resilience. My hope is to try and get at the essence of a person beyond the circumstances of their lives; the essence of a person really only emerges after spending time with them.

I am a National Geographic Magazine Photographer and have contributed to the New York Times, TIME, the New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Stern, Le Monde, M le Magazine du Monde, GEO Germany, Paris Match, The London Sunday Times, The Guardian, Slate, Internazionale, and others. My photographic work on dementia and Alzheimer’s disease was published in the March 2024 issue of National Geographic Magazine. I photographed dozens of people impacted by dementia and Alzheimer’s in three countries. I often gravitate towards or am assigned to stories of people enduring and living with adversity. I am a TED Fellow and gave a talk at TED 2018 in Vancouver. In my talk, I focus on a senior citizen love triangle. This photo essay is the focus of my book “Senior Love Triangle.” “Senior Love Triangle” is an example of a project that was not assigned to me by a publication. I pursued Jeanie, Will and Adina because I was deeply curious about them. Intuition often guides my work. I will see or meet someone and know fairly quickly that I will photograph them. Photography often feels like a small part of what I do; listening, feeling into, being able to hold space for people are the cornerstone of my practice.

Persistence and determination is a significant part of my work. I am often trying to gain access inside institutions. Trying to gain access to institutional spaces requires patience. During the pandemic, I documented individuals, families and healthcare workers inside COVID-positive intensive care units. I also completed some of the only photography from inside a COVID-positive nursing home, long-term care facility. In order to photograph patients inside a COVID-positive long-term care setting, I had to receive approval from state government. This was early in the pandemic, long before we had a vaccine available. I knew I had to photograph behind these walls. This deep sense of “I have to be there” motivated me to push as I could for access to seniors and adults with disabilities who were battling COVID. Eventually, after six months of trying, I was granted permission.

I am often working on multiple assignments and projects at once; I am deeply passionate about longitudinal work. Working for myself and contributing to different publications, I have to keep the fire going on my own. I have had to be my own cheerleader.
Something that often motivates me is the gratitude I feel for the people who allow me to document their lives. I will keep going with a project for years if I feel like it is not ready to be shared. I have been directing a feature-film documentary since 2013, following one woman through different chapters of life. To me, the people I document are my teachers on life. They have taught me profound life lessons,

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate my shoutout to the people who I have let me into their lives as a photographer; I would not exist without you.

Website: www.isadorakosofsky.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isadorakosofsky/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isadora-kosofsky-000554194/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/IsadoraKosofsky/

Other: https://www.amazon.com/Senior-Love-Triangle-Isadora-Kosofsky/dp/3868289356

Image Credits
All photos by Isadora Kosofsky