about levi meir
schedule now at levi.pictures
hello — چۆنی — שלום — hola — سلام
hi, my name is levi meir clancy!
he / him
i am a queer photographer from an interdisciplinary background. i focus on stock photography, portrait photography, and photojournalism.
🐣 who i am
i was born in los angeles in 1990 — a few hours after the conclusion of שמחת תורה simchat torah for the year 5751, according to the hebrew calendar.
i am jewish, from a mixed background that is multi-ethnic (white, ashkenazi, and ryukyuan / okinawan) as well as multi-religious (christian, jewish, and indigenous ryukyuan).
📈 by the numbers
2.5 — total languages i speak, mostly fractionally
10,000 — photos i’ve donated to wikipedia
14 — countries i’ve visited
2 — countries i’ve lived in
25 — number of hours i go offline each week for שבת shabbat
10 — age when i graduated high school
13 — age when i started at ucla
21 — age when i bought my first dslr camera
32 — age when photography became my only income
4 — cameras i use for publishing work
📄 early work
as an undergrad, i studied at ucla with a major in microbiology and a minor in near eastern studies. after that, i spent most of my adult life in هەرێمی کوردستان the kurdistan region of iraq. during that time, 2014 to 2022, i worked in local media in a variety of ways, ranging from field journalism to communications strategies to software development.
in 2022, while at the airport and on my way home to my apartment in هەولێر hawler, i was taken by the kurdistan region’s security officers and confined in administrative detention. promoted by antisemitic figures, the allegation against me was that my presence was a threat to security.
thankfully, the american consulate secured my safe repatriation to the united states.
📸 current work
today, i am a digital nomad based mostly in the united states, méxico, ישראל israel, and الإمارات the united arab emirates.
i am honored to help amplify, through my photography, voices and themes that urgently need attention.
my work draws upon a broad spectrum of human life: from gender euphoria to indigenous revival — from stateless people to activist politicians — from private archives to public spaces — and anything else that contributes to my mission,
to create memorable images of humankind