[1] Eileen Olive Leach was born in Croydon, Surrey, England, on 16 June 1909.

As a young woman she moved to London, England, where she became a jewelry photographer for Cartier’s.

[1] In 1938 Deste was selected to be the official photographer to the New Zealand Centennial Exhibition to be held in Wellington in 1939 and 1940.

She also documented a variety of architectural subjects; industrial chimneys, prison doors and pottery kilns.

[1] She became a lifelong friend of writer and traveler Guy Arnold who lived in the flat above her in Marylebone.