Passion and sisterhood. Those were the words that struck Sheny Leon as he watched his partner, Leia French, and her teammates on Dotties Dolls, a Martha’s Vineyard Women’s Softball League team, in the spring of 2023. “Wow, this is really interesting,” he thought to himself as his attention was drawn not to the action taking place out on the field, but to the camaraderie happening on the bench. “I really want to photograph this.”

Leon, who splits his time between Martha’s Vineyard in the summer and various warmer climates in the winter, has spent the past eight years honing the craft of photography. While traveling originally ignited his interest, he said, it was after the birth of his daughter in 2016 when he really dove in, reading books on the subject and attending yearly workshops and mentorships. Today, as a wedding and family photographer on the Island, he strives to tell a story with each series he captures.  

After explaining his vision, ideas, and intentions to the teammates, Leon received their blessing to photograph them throughout the rest of their summer season. He quickly set to work with both his Canon and Fujifilm cameras in hand. 

“My original idea was to capture what it was like to be [on] the team,” he explained. “Not so much hitting or running, but…the sitting on the bench and interacting with each other.” It was, of course, those more intimate moments that had drawn Leon to photograph Dotties Dolls in the first place: players on the bench laughing with one another, cheering, and dishing out high fives; team huddles; someone stretching in the grass; a player getting their fingers taped up; faces pressed against a chain-link fence intently watching the game.  

As the season progressed, his focus shifted. He added in portraits of the players and umpires, as well as shots of the competitive side of the league – an on-deck batter warming up, a pitcher mid throw, a runner racing to the base. He would even turn his lens to the spectators, capturing kids, spouses, family, and pets watching the action.

The league itself, an Island institution for almost twenty years, is one Leon said he can envision going back to and photographing again. Each season, game, and, of course, team is different. Through his lens, there is a new story to tell.