S4:E13 Heidi Lender

Born in New Haven, CT, Heidi Lender began her career reporting on the fashion universe for national magazines, writing features and styling photo shoots throughout her twenties. With a BA in apparel and textiles from Cornell University, she covered style and travel from New York to Paris, where she served as Fashion Director and Associate Bureau Chief of Women’s Wear Daily and W Magazine. After Paris she went to India, where she lived part-time while studying yoga for the next eight years. In 2007, she opened and taught at a yoga studio in San Francisco, and two years later she discovered her creative self in photography. Self-taught, she began by creating self-portraits and realised a meaningful way to make sense of the world and her place in it. Her images are often based in self-inquiry that stem from personal experiences, relationships and/or investigate identity.

She is represented by galleries in the U.S. and Uruguay and has exhibited internationally. Heidi is a founding member of the online collective Six Shooters, has twice been a Critical Mass finalist, received recognition from the likes of the Pollux Awards and the Julia Margaret Cameron Award. Her work has been featured in PDN and Rangefinder magazines and in online photo blogs including CNN, NPR and the New Yorker’s Photo Booth. Editorial credits include WSJ Magazine, Disegno Journal and Grey Magazine. In 2014, Kehrer Verlag published the photography book “Grassland” under Lender’s pseudonym, H. Lee. She currently resides on an 80-acre ranch in Pueblo Garzón, Uruguay, where she has founded CAMPO, a nonprofit creative institute supporting international artists (www.campogarzon.org).

In this episode and her discussion with Anne, Heidi recounts her impulsive decision to leave her burgeoning career as a fashion director in Paris at the young age of 26. Her tale is marked by personal challenges, including a divorce and the emotional roller coaster of IVF, which she bravely shares with Anne. Heidi’s journey of self-discovery and resilience is punctuated by her immersion into the world of yoga, which led to her being trained under the renowned K. Pattabhi Jois, finding solace and a renewed sense of purpose.

Prompted by Heidi expressing the realisations she had while shopping in Goa, Anne shares a similar experience from her recent trip to Greece, emphasising the significance of unique, locally-crafted fashion. Anne also speaks candidly about her battle with rheumatoid arthritis and how yoga has been instrumental in her physical and emotional well-being, noting that movement does indeed help with pain, despite seeming counterintuitive. The episode takes a reflective turn as Heidi shares the trials and tribulations she faced during her attempts at conceiving through IVF, eventually leading her to embrace a different life path with acceptance and grace.

A pivotal moment in Heidi’s personal story, she tells Anne, is her discovery of Garzón, Uruguay. During an impromptu trip to South America, she stumbled upon her dream home in the quaint village, which became the birthplace of CAMPO. Heidi describes to Anne how her passion for photography flourishes in this picturesque setting, where the art of self-portraiture becomes a therapeutic outlet and a means of self-expression. The episode highlights how photography, combined with mindfulness practices, has been a crucial part of Heidi’s healing journey.

Heidi then goes deeper into the founding and growth of CAMPO, which has evolved into a sanctuary for artists, chefs and writers from around the world. Heidi articulates her vision of creating transformative experiences for both residents and attendees, fostering a sense of community through artistic collaboration. The festival, now a three-day event with a month-long residency program, is using the theme “unsettled” this year. The theme explores migration and movement, thus reflecting Heidi’s own journey of continuous reinvention.

The episode concludes with a heartfelt discussion between Heidi and Anne on the value of solitude, introspection and the interconnectedness of creative pursuits and personal growth. Heidi shares important moments of reconnection with her past and influential figures, weaving a narrative of the importance of serendipity and openness to new perspectives. Through her story, Heidi exemplifies resilience, creativity and the transformative power of embracing life’s unpredictable turns.

An intimate and heartwarming interview with a talented artist. Happy listening!