OUKA LEELE

Spanish photographer

Ouka Leele (b. 1957, Madrid), is a Spanish photographer whose real name is Barbara Allende Gil de Biedma. Even though she wanted to be a painter, she discovered photography as a medium to express her natural and intensive artistic sensitivity. It is in the 1980s in Madrid during the nation's "Movida" movement when she demonstrated her interest in a variety of artistic disciplines such as drawing, serigraphy, painting, and literature resulting in a series of photos labeled as "icons of her time". Her unedited photos that are often additionally hand-painted are an attempt to show human nature and to reveal the connections between life, emotions, and its translations in art language.

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She was awarded the 2004 Culture Prize by the Community of Madrid and the 2005 National Photography Award and her works can be found in a number of collections including Collection Arco (Madrid), Foundation Cartier (Paris), Foundation La Caixa (Barcelona), Cervantes Institute (Lisbon), Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia (Madrid), etc.