You Brought Your Own Light, a New Book of Transgender Portraits
A book of transgender portraiture showcasing the work of award-winning photographer Allie Crewe has been published by Axis Projects Publishing this July 2020.
You Brought Your Own Light is produced by Alan J Ward and brings together 26 of Allie’s revealing Transgender portraits, including the image of Grace, a doctor, which won the BJP Portrait of Britain 2019.
A series of 12 of the portraits were initially exhibited in Manchester at an event sponsored by the National Transgender Charity, Sparkle.
You Brought Your Own Light now brings these portraits together in a book, continuing Allie’s journey as a political artist exploring social issues of the day using photography to give a voice to those often denied power; becoming a campaigner by giving visibility to other people’s narratives.
Her photographic portraiture recognises that there is nothing linear, defined or straightforward about femininity, or what it means to be a woman, in the 21st century.
You Brought Your Own Light is the first published book of Allie’s work and has been created with the support of Arts Council England.
Allie Crewe says: “Stories of transformation fascinate me, especially when they are women’s stories. I love to photograph teenagers, trans women, women surviving illness or escaping violent marriages. It is not just the physical changes that draw me but how our internal, emotional lives change too.
“To take a person’s image is, in part, self portrait. I am representing women, exploring their narratives and interweaving them with my own.”
Her work has been praised by high profile industry publications including Magnum and LensCulture. Both were impressed by the authenticity of Allie’s portraits of transgender people, referencing their poignant and classical composition and noting the empathetic nature of each image.
Allie has worked with her friend and collaborator Olivia Fisher, who has written the words in the book.
Allie’s new work includes a series of portraits to help change the narrative of domestic violence in conjunction with Safe Lives.
Allie was also commissioned by the NHS for Still I Rise, which celebrated Black History month, and Unseen Community, a project commissioned by Proud 2b Parents exploring the LGBTQ+ parenting narrative.
The book can be purchased at https://www.allie-crewe.uk/store
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Joanne Carter
Joanne Carter, creator of the world’s most popular mobile photography and art website— TheAppWhisperer.com— TheAppWhisperer platform has been a pivotal cyberspace for mobile artists of all abilities to learn about, to explore, to celebrate and to share mobile artworks. Joanne’s compassion, inclusivity, and humility are hallmarks in all that she does, and is particularly evident in the platform she has built. In her words, “We all have the potential to remove ourselves from the centre of any circle and to expand a sphere of compassion outward; to include everyone interested in mobile art, ensuring every artist is within reach”, she has said. Promotion of mobile artists and the art form as a primary medium in today’s art world, has become her life’s focus. She has presented lectures bolstering mobile artists and their art from as far away as the Museum of Art in Seoul, South Korea to closer to her home in the UK at Focus on Imaging. Her experience as a jurist for mobile art competitions includes: Portugal, Canada, US, S Korea, UK and Italy. And her travels pioneering the breadth of mobile art includes key events in: Frankfurt, Naples, Amalfi Coast, Paris, Brazil, London. Pioneering the world’s first mobile art online gallery - TheAppWhispererPrintSales.com has extended her reach even further, shipping from London, UK to clients in the US, Europe and The Far East to a global group of collectors looking for exclusive art to hang in their homes and offices. The online gallery specialises in prints for discerning collectors of unique, previously unseen signed limited edition art. Her journey towards becoming The App Whisperer, includes (but is not limited to) working for a paparazzi photo agency for several years and as a deputy editor for a photo print magazine. Her own freelance photographic journalistic work is also widely acclaimed. She has been published extensively both within the UK and the US in national and international titles. These include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Guardian, Popular Photography & Imaging, dpreview, NikonPro, Which? and more recently with the BBC as a Contributor, Columnist at Vogue Italia and Contributing Editor at LensCulture. Her professional photography has also been widely exhibited throughout Europe, including Italy, Portugal and the UK. She is currently writing several books, all related to mobile art and is always open to requests for new commissions for either writing or photography projects or a combination of both. Please contact her at: [email protected]
