Bruce Leventhal
(763) 639-6612
Artist Bio:
My website has the tagline “I am an educator, naturalist, and photographer. I believe that it is possible to speak with images and paint with words.” The motto accurately describes my motivation as a teacher, scholar, and artist.
I grew up in New York City, moved to 29 Palms when I was 12, was off to Los Angeles at 14, and did my B.S. Degree at UC Irvine following high school. All of the moving and reconstruction of social groups in my formative years have had a profound impact on how I view the world today. I am a trained scientist with undergraduate and graduate degrees in biology that emphasized ecology, evolution, and behavior. My undergraduate research focused on the impact of high density nesting by Alaskan pelagic bird species, while my graduate studies examined how plant choices made by egg-laying monarch butterflies impacted the development and survival of their larval offspring. In between the pursuit of my two academic degrees, I went to graduate school to become a credentialed science teacher in Minnesota. I leveraged my love and passion for science and nature as a way to motivate disinterested adolescents to think critically about their world. So while I am proud of my degrees earned at UC Irvine and the University of Minnesota, I am most proud of the 31 years I spent in public education. Teaching young people and preparing them for life beyond home is more gratifying than my words can convey.
Throughout my “nomadic” youth, college, research, and teaching, nature photography was the one thread that grounded me. I purchased my first camera with birthday money in 1978, and have been making pictures ever since. I’ve exhibited my work in galleries, coffee shops, and libraries throughout Minnesota, and have begun to seek venues to share my work here in Santa Cruz. I’ve been published in multiple magazines and my images can be seen throughout many locations on the web. In the end, my writing, my blogs, and my self-published books have the same goal. I seek to excite the reader and viewer about nature, and promote a type of awe that might lead to conservation.
Credits
Nature Photographer Magazine, Published multiple photo essays and written work beginning in 2002 with my most recent publication in summer/spring 2025.
Rootstalk : A Prairie Journal of Culture, Science, and the Arts, Published multiple images and photo essays beginning in 2018 with my most recent publication in Spring 2024.
Stock Photography with WindigoImages.com
Online at: BruceLeventhal.com and instagram.com/BruceLeventhal
Presentation for the Community of Digital Artists in Santa Cruz, CA
