Alison Lea grew up in England and Australia. Her interest in photography was sparked at a young age when her parents gave her a Lubitel 2 camera as a gift. She has always had an interest in music and attempted to play several instruments fairly unsuccessfully and suffered badly from stage fright. She studied photography at the South Australian School of Art and Sydney College of the Arts and has worked as a photographer, videographer, editor, curator and educator for over forty years in Australia, UK and France.