Set of Five Alex Leykin Photographs, c. 20th century, c. 20th century

**Alex Leykin (1947–2016)** was a Ukrainian-born photographer whose career spanned Ukraine and the United States, with New York becoming the central subject of his mature work. Born in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, Leykin attended art school there before continuing his photographic studies at the Republican School of Portrait Photography in Kyiv, where he studied under the celebrated portrait photographer Leonid Levit. In the late 1980s, he was part of a group of artists led by renowned Ukrainian artist and designer Anatoliy Gaidamaka, contributing to the decoration and presentation of significant literary and historical museums in Ukraine and Moldova. His photographic work for these institutions ranged from small images to large-scale photographs and wall-sized collages.

Leykin immigrated to the United States and initially settled in Baltimore, where he worked as a photographer for Perskie Photographics & Design. He later moved to New York City, a place he had admired since his youth, and spent the 1990s and early 2000s photographing the city with a deep sense of fascination and affection. His *Sketches of New York* capture the city's skylines, architecture, landmarks, and Central Park, often emphasizing geometric compositions and the interplay of light, structure, and space. Among his most striking photographs are his images of the World Trade Center's Twin Towers and their illuminated recreation following the September 11, 2001 attacks. His New York photographs attracted the attention of HBO, which expressed interest in acquiring rights to use his work in one of its television series. His photographs from this period entered collections on multiple continents and represented what he considered one of the most productive and creative periods of his life.

In the final years of his life, Leykin lived in California, where he continued to photograph. His later work included surreal images of snow-covered Los Angeles canals, a new subject and technique for the artist. Leykin died in Los Angeles in 2016. The following year, his daughter organized a memorial exhibition in Zaporizhzhia to mark what would have been his 70th birthday—the only exhibition of his work she was able to organize in his native city. The exhibition brought together photographs of New York, Rome, Venice, Kyiv, and Los Angeles, offering a broad view of a career rooted in both his Ukrainian beginnings and his enduring fascination with the world's great cities.