By giving up technical control of her camera, photographer Isa Leshko was able to focus on the emotional aspects of the images she created for her exhibit “Elderly Animals.” Leshko used a Helga, a toy camera with a fixed lens, to photograph former farm animals living in sanctuaries due to their age or illness. She stumbled upon her subject matter quite literally when she was visiting a family farm and encountered an elderly horse that was blind. Leshko has just spent a year caring for her mother, who had Alzheimer’s disease. She had very purposefully avoided photographing her mother in her debilitated condition, but felt compelled to capture images of the horse. “I realized I had found a project that would enable me to explore my feelings relating to my aging parents and my own mortality,” says Leshko.

The resulting photographs are moving, intimate, black-and-white images of farm animals that have lived past their usefulness, which had always been the principal measure of their worth. There’s Handsome One, Thoroughbred Horse, Age 33, which shows a frail thoroughbred standing, his head bowed, with no remnant of his former vital, strong self seemingly left. Another is Violet, Potbellied Pig, Age 12. That shows a small, fuzzy-haired pig, looking up at the camera expectantly. Packed with quiet emotion, Leshko’s photos reflect the vulnerability of the creatures. While solemn, the images are far from depressing. Instead there’s a sense of strength and a spirit of survival. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays, noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. Through August 21. Galveston Art Center, 2501 Market. For information, call 409-763-2403 or visit www.contemporaryartgalveston.org. Free.

Tuesdays-Sundays. Starts: July 16. Continues through Aug. 21, 2011

This article appears in Aug 11-17, 2011.