Leslie C. Lara is an elementary teacher on weekdays and an artist/photographer on weekends.  She was born and raised in Brawley, California. Leslie started drawing and painting at the age of 5.  Her mother encouraged her to continue her passion by asking her to make more sketches for her family as gifts.  Leslie’s love for art never stopped even though she chose to study liberal arts instead of furthering her education in the fine arts.  She has always instilled a love of the arts in her students and continues to do so now that she is finally focusing on her second career as an artist.   

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    Leslie first started taking photographs at the age of 18 when she bought her first camera.  She used her camera to take pictures as reference for her artwork. Soon she noticed she had a flare for taking photos, which probably came from her unique point of view as an artist.  She continued to take photos as gifts for family and friends until people started asking to hire her for photo shoots.

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Leslie especially loves to photograph more naturally looking photos that capture the love her subjects have for each other.  Her family is her favorite subject. She uses her photos as a journal of what their life is like. She has captured the love her parents have for each other and the hardships they go through because of her mother’s battle with Parkinson’s Disease and dementia.  She also documents her love for hula and the halau (hula school) she belongs too.