Alys Tomlinson

Alys Tomlinson (born 1975) is a British photographer.[1] She has published the books Following Broadway (2013), Ex-Voto (2019) and Lost Summer (2020). For Ex-Voto she won the Photographer of the Year award at the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards. Portraits from Lost Summer won First prize in the 2020 Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize.[2]

Life and work

Tomlinson was born and grew up in Brighton, UK.[1] She studied English literature and communications at the University of Leeds.[3] After graduating in the mid-1990s she moved to New York City for a year where she undertook her first commission as a photographer, shooting all the pictures for the Time Out Guide to the city.[3][4] She returned to London to study photography at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and later completed a part-time MA in anthropology of travel, tourism and pilgrimage at SOAS University of London.[3]

During each of several later trips to New York City over four years, she walked the 14 mile length of Broadway, first in full taking 10 hours then in sections, and making street portraits.[4] This resulted in the book Following Broadway (2013).

Tomlinson's book Ex-Voto (2019) is about ex-voto (votive offerings made to a saint or to a divinity) left at several European destinations of Christian pilgrimage: the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, France; Ballyvourney, Ireland; and the Holy Mount of Grabarka, Poland, close to the border with Belarus. The Sanctuary at Lourdes surrounds the Catholic shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes (a Roman Catholic title of the Blessed Virgin Mary) who is venerated there in honour of the Lourdes apparitions of 1858. Writing in The Guardian, Sean O'Hagan included an exhibition of Ex-Voto at Rencontres d'Arles at number 6 in his "Top 10 photography shows of 2019";[5] and the book at number 3 in his "Top 15 photography books of 2019", about which he wrote:

"Ex-Voto gathers her stark monochrome portraits of pilgrims, large format landscapes and mysterious still lifes of offerings left in rocks and trees at Lourdes, Ballyvourney and Grabarka. The results possess a kind of serene calmness that befits the subject matter, her portraits in particular capturing the reverent otherness and simplicity of the devotional life."[6]

Tomlinson's film Vera, which accompanies her Ex-Voto work, is a "short film about a young nun, Vera, who works with wild horses in a convent in Belarus".[7]

Lost Summer (2020) is a book of black and white portraits of young people aged between 15 and 19 in north London. With the cancellation of final exams and ritual events such as proms and graduations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Tomlinson photographed her subjects in the outfits they would have worn to prom, in their gardens and local parks.[8][9][10]

As well as personal projects, Tomlinson works commercially for editorial, design and advertising clients.

Publications

Publications by Tomlinson
  • Following Broadway. London: self-published / Eyebox, 2013. ISBN 978-0992728007. Edition of 250 copies.[4]
  • Ex-Voto. London: Gost, 2019. ISBN 978-1-910401-27-9. With essays by Rowan Cerys Tomlinson, John Eade and Sean O'Hagan.[11]
  • Lost Summer. Self-published, 2020.

Publications with contributions by Tomlinson
  • New York. Time Out Guide. Written by Shawn Dahl et al, photography by Tomlinson. London: Penguin, 1999. Seventh edition. ISBN 978-0140274523.

Short films

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

Group exhibitions

Awards

References
  1. Sawa, Interview by Dale Berning (4 April 2019). "Alys Tomlinson's best photograph: a volunteer on pilgrimage to Lourdes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.theguardian.com.
  2. "Cancelled prom pictures win £15,000 Taylor Wessing portrait prize". BBC News. 26 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-12 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  3. Alys Tomlinson. "About". Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  4. Davies, Lucy (28 May 2014). "Following Broadway". ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. O'Hagan, Sean (16 December 2019). "Top 10 photography shows of 2019". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.theguardian.com.
  6. O'Hagan, Sean (17 December 2019). "Top 15 photography books of 2019". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-27 – via www.theguardian.com.
  7. O’Hagan, Sean (5 July 2019). "Stolen phones, British homes and wine for breakfast – Arles photography festival". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.theguardian.com.
  8. Tucker, Emma (20 November 2020). "Teenagers dress for proms that never happened in Alys Tomlinson's Lost Summer". Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  9. Tomlinson, Alys (9 November 2020). "Prom portraits from the lost summer of 2020 – a photo essay". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-12-12 – via www.theguardian.com.
  10. "Alys Tomlinson's poignant "Lost Summer" portraits win the Taylor Wessing Prize". www.newstatesman.com. Retrieved 2020-12-12.
  11. "Female in Focus: Alys Tomlinson's Ex-Voto book is out now". British Journal of Photography. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  12. O'Hagan, Sean (14 November 2017). "Taylor Wessing photographic portrait prize review – the unflinching gaze of a worthy winner". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.theguardian.com.
  13. "Alys Tomlinson Named Photographer of the Year in the 2018 Sony World Photography Awards". British Journal of Photography. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-26.
  14. Kennedy, Maev (19 April 2018). "UK's Alys Tomlinson named photographer of year at Sony awards". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.theguardian.com.
  15. "Sony World Photography Award 2018, Overall winners revealed". The Telegraph. 19 April 2018. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  16. "British artist wins 2018 Sony World Photography Awards". BBC News. 20 April 2018. Retrieved 2020-02-26 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. "Audience Award2019 LOUIS ROEDERER DISCOVERY AWARD". Rencontres d'Arles. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
  18. "'Lost summer' prom images win over judges of Taylor Wessing photo portrait prize". The Guardian. 24 November 2020. Retrieved 2020-11-26.
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