Kitty Leaken

Kitty Leaken, a veteran photojournalist, specializes in documenting the arts and cultures of Indigenous Peoples around the world. She won 1st Place, Photo Essay, from the National Federation of Press Women in 2023 for her work on Craftsmanship‘s story, “Pablita Velarde: The Pueblo Artisans of the Southwest.”

After graduating from Stanford University, Leaken worked at newspapers in Santa Fe and ran a nonprofit, Art Refuge, for displaced and orphaned youth in Tibet, India, and Sri Lanka. Her work appears in several books, including “Art of Exile,” “Café Pasqual’s,” “Contemporary Native American Artists,” “Kevin Red Star: Crow Indian Artist,” and “New Mexico Farm Table”, as well as a short film, “Dance of Young Nomads.” Kitty’s portraits are featured in the exhibit, “Tradition and Innovation: 100 Years of Santa Fe’s Indian Market,” on view at the New Mexico History Museum through August 2023. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and has a remote straw bale cabin retreat in the mountains.