Allie Crewe ARPS
By Christina Osborne
Allie Crewe ARPS is a highly successful British portrait photographer. She won the BJP Portrait of Britain award in 2019 and 2023. She has made renowned work exploring challenging subjects such as domestic violence and the transgender community. As a practising photographer, Allie has held residencies and has been commissioned for projects. This summer, she became one of the latest holders of the RPS Associate distinction.
In addition to awarding the Associate distinction (ARPS) for a cohesive body of work, the RPS also offers an Associate distinction on completion of certain academic courses, including a Master’s degree in photography. This is the route that Allie followed. One might ask why a highly successful photographer would take time out to join an academic course. This is Allie’s story.
Allie describes herself as a full-time photographer. “I think about photography from the moment that I get out of bed to the moment that I fall asleep,” she says with a smile.
Previously, Allie had worked on several highly acclaimed projects. These included Still I Rise for the NHS and Unseen Community, which was the result of a year-long residency sponsored by the charity Proud2bParents, a charity based in Greater Manchester helping parents and potential parents in the LGBTQ+ community.
Receiving the BJP Portrait of Britain award in 2019 led Allie to a residency with the charity SafeLives. She travelled across the UK making I Am. This body of work consists of 53 images of people who considered themselves to be survivors of domestic violence. Allie says she wanted to challenge the common narrative of victimisation and demonstrate that there are people who have regained control from physical, emotional, financial and sexual control. One of her sitters described the group as “strong, brave, feisty survivors, changing the journey from victim to victor”. A selection of portraits of the survivors can be viewed on Allie’s website. Seven of the sitters had to withdraw from the project to protect their safety. This work was featured in publications such as The Guardian, The Observer, and the BBC. The physical exhibition was opened by Queen Camilla.
Allie then found herself at a crossroads. She had a choice between capitalising on her success or retreating to make new work in private. She chose to enrol in the Master of Fine Arts programme at the University of Ulster. “This gave me a newfound freedom,” she says. “Not only could I make new work, but I found myself able to express a personal sense of integrity. The tutors would encourage me to experiment, and I would go away and try out their suggestions.”
The MFA experience was overwhelmingly positive for Allie. “I was surrounded by people who understood me and the work that I wanted to make,” she recalls. “The tutors were excellent and I found myself with a like-minded group of people. I was there to make new work.”
Allie describes her final project in the programme as her most personal to date. She notes that she started with the intention of making a series of images about other people. However, as the project evolved, she realised that she was working on a body of work that caused her to reflect on her own experiences of childhood abuse. The result is a deeply captivating and moving series, Gather the Bones, which she describes as “an invitation to bear witness to the pain and subsequent journey towards healing that unfolds when individuals embrace transformation.” [Editor’s note: All the images in this article are from this series.]
I was interested in how the MFA course had shaped Allie’s photography. “[It] helped me make work that was even more personal,” she says. “I have always been emotionally connected to my work. And I have always connected with the participants. I count many of the people I have met as close friends today. However, the MFA gave me the confidence to recognise and include my own experience within my work.”
Gather the Bones is set in a bronze-age forest. Allie created a safe environment where she collaborated with women enabling them to reconnect with the suppressed parts of themselves. In doing so, she also captured a shadow part of her own experiences of childhood abuse.
“These women enact my waking dreams or simply explore the place and respond to it in their own way,” Allie explains.
I have always been emotionally connected to my work. And I have always connected with the participants. I count many of the people I have met as close friends today. However, the MFA gave me the confidence to recognise and include my own experience within my work.
There is no doubt that Gather the Bones is an intensely personal collaboration between participant and sitter, and this adds to the strength of the work.
I asked Allie about the moment she realised that this work was as much about her as the women who were participating. It began one afternoon when a friend who is a psychologist viewed work-in-progress images spread out on the studio floor, she says. The ensuing conversation highlighted the sense of grief captured within the series.
It was this Spring, when Allie was preparing the work for an exhibition, that she fully understood the strength of her emotional connection to the project. “The realisation that I had made work about myself was huge,” she explains.
Allie was recently awarded her MFA. She received her ARPS distinction the day before we spoke. I wondered what had driven her to join the Women in Photography group of the RPS. She explained that the master’s programme had provided an environment that was very soul-searching. “I feel that I need a new tribe,” she says. “I have realised that I make work as an activist and that there is a political aspect to my work. This feels like a good group to be in.”
Learn more about distinctions on the RPS website.
All images © Allie Crewe ARPS
About Allie Crewe
UK-based photographer Allie Crewe was a recipient of the Portrait of Britain in 2019 and 2023, awarded by the British Journal of Photography. Commissioned twice by Arts Council England, her recent portraits have been featured in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Observer, Vogue, and BBC News.
Allie is compelled to capture the portraits of people who desire transformation, seeking narratives of resilience and healing. A portrait should reach beyond the surface to be poignant — there is a tender beauty in this. Photography is a poetic force that creates stories with a touch of magic, hopefully unveiling the inner landscapes of those she works with.
https://www.instagram.com/allie_crewe/
This article was first published in the September 2024 edition of WE ARE: The RPS Women in Photography Magazine — explore the full issue below.
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