Allie Crewe

I am compelled to capture the  portraits of people who desire  transformation, I have been there too. I seek narratives of resilience and  healing and am drawn to those who build a new life, often risking all to begin again, those who embrace change, the alchemists. We carry the shadow inside us. Even when we grow and transform, the shadows stay hidden in our bodies. The body keeps the score, the heart may be torn, the shoulder burdened. To heal became my quest. 

A portrait should reach beyond the surface to be poignant. There is a tender beauty in this vulnerability. Photography is a poetic force to create stories, with an element of magic to reveal a person's inner landscape.

The female gaze is powerful, and by working in collaboration with participants, agency can be established so the subject becomes active in their representation. I like to explore the relationship between the viewer,  the subject and photographer because it can be an uneasy balance of power. 

My approach is research based and I enjoy immersing myself on extended projects with both digital and film cameras. I work commercially for companies  including the NHS and believe art can provoke new thinking and be an agent of change.

 Available for further commissions and residencies, I won the BJP Portrait of Britain 2019.

"It is a terrific body of work and I'm not surprised it has been gaining attention. These images have a lot of heart and empathy, they offer detail and a real sense of actual relationships. I feel like these images are, in some sense, an account of love and are timeless in that sense. They do not judge, in fact they celebrate in a gentle and accommodating way." LensCulture.

"Highly rated, sincere, poignant and classical." Magnum Photo

Contact: alliephotography31@gmail