Leslie Fratkin was an editorial photographer for twenty-five years until Multiple Sclerosis forced an end to her commercial career. She has since immersed herself in several long-term projects, including the creation, design and authorship of a book, traveling exhibition and lecture series featuring the work and words of nine photographers from Sarajevo, ex-Yugoslavia. Fratkin is currently pursuing an ongoing multi-media documentation of her neighborhood, West Chelsea, in Manhattan, New York City.

Fratkin has received numerous grants and awards in support of her work, including a fellowship and three grants from The Soros Foundation, and a grant from Steven Spielberg’s Righteous Persons Foundation.

She has participated in many local and international exhibitions, and her work is in several public collections, including The Corcoran Museum and The National Gallery of Art, both in Washington, D.C.

In September 2021, Fratkin was the recipient of a NYFA/City Artist Corps Grant, which resulted in an elaborate multimedia exhibition of images of her neighborhood. This exhibition was on view in fall 2021 in Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City.