An Elephant on My Shoulder and Other Attachments
A Monograph by Sara Leith-Tanous
An Elephant on My Shoulder and Other Attachments brings together gelatin silver prints made between 2021 and 2025, drawn from locations spanning California, East Africa, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, Yorkshire, and Maui — united not by geography but by the photographer's felt sense of connection to each subject.
The photographs move fluidly between the human and animal worlds, between intimate portraits and expansive landscapes, between moments of tenderness and the precariousness of life in the wild. Recurring themes — ebb and flow, kinship, the act of touching through seeing — are woven together with the photographer's own spare, lyrical texts. A reflection by photographer and educator Jacqueline Thurston accompanies the images.
Working in the tradition of the small, introspective gelatin silver print, Leith-Tanous invites viewers to slow down and discover connections they hadn't seen before — images of kinship in unlikely places, and the quiet beauty of moments both ordinary and special, always fleeting.
110 images | Printed by Meridian Printing | 2025