Leopoldo
Bloom

Leopoldo Bloom is an author and experimental filmmaker who self-publishes his writings in limited-edition artist books. Typeset by hand and letterpress printed, his writings chronicle the interiority of the transgender experience from a midlife perspective. His debut memoir, How to Transition on Sixty-Three Cents a Day, now resides in over two dozen special collections and museums worldwide. His latest work, The Migratory Patterns of North American Queers at the Turn of the Century, repurposes the family photo album format to reframe queer lives through migration rather than traditional milestones of birth and marriage. Since the 1990s, Leopoldo has worked with 35mm film, manipulating photographic emulsion with alternative chemistry and bipack printing techniques. The Big Film Series represents his foray into expanded cinema performance, where he shot and projected film portraits using original hand-cranked equipment from cinema's earliest era. His technical expertise spans roles as a lab technician at Kodak Advanced Materials and Manufacturing, as well as various motion picture processing facilities. Most recently, as Leon Levy film archivist at the Wildlife Conservation Society, he cataloged and digitized rare wildlife films from the Bronx Zoo's historical collection, bridging his passion for preservation with his artistic practice.