Mariette Pathy Allen
“New Jersey 1968” & “People with Art”
I was hired by the State Museum of New Jersey to capture “the face of New Jersey”. The Philadelphia and NJ photographs, taken in 1968, represent my earliest photographic series.
To purchase any of these works, please contact The Gallery at SALT Studio at 910-367-5720 or Studio@SaltStudioNC.com
‘Don’t Be a Dishwasher…’
Mariette Pathy Allen
1968
16 x 20
Gelatin Silver Print
Open Series
$1750
“People with art” is an ongoing series that also began in 1968. The “a” in art is small as I enjoy defining “art” rather loosely. Sometimes the subject is people making art, people in juxtaposition to art or kitsch, people in art spaces, or even, people as art.
‘Backstage Rehearsal, Montreal’
Mariette Pathy Allen
1968
16 x 20
Gelatin Silver Print
Open Series
$1750
Biography
Mariette Pathy Allen has been photographing the transgender community for over 30 years. Through her artistic practice, she has been a pioneering force in gender consciousness, contributing to numerous cultural and academic publications about gender variance and lecturing throughout the globe. Her first book “Transformations: Crossdressers and Those Who Love Them” was groundbreaking in its investigation of a misunderstood community. Her second book “The Gender Frontier” is a collection of photographs, interviews, and essays covering political activism, youth, and the range of people that identify as transgender in mainland USA and won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award in the Transgender/Genderqueer category. She has also been a valuable consultant to several films about gender and sexuality.
Her life’s work is currently being archived by Duke University’s Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, and the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s Studies. She is currently working on an in-depth study of transgender women in Cuba, and another project about transgender veterans in the US. In addition to her work with gender, Mariette’s background as a painter frequently leads her to photographic investigations of color, space, and cultural juxtapositions such as east/west, old/new, handmade/manufactured. Mariette lives in New York City with a rotating cast of friends and loved ones.
Although I expected to devote my professional life to painting, after receiving an MFA from the University of Pennsylvania, I took a class in photography with Harold Feinstein. The experience was exhilarating: It felt as if I were given a passport into the world. In what seemed like no time, I was hired by the State Museum of New Jersey to capture “The Face of New Jersey”. The Philadelphia and NJ photographs, taken in 1968, represent my earliest work, followed by “People With Art,” an ongoing series about people making art, people in juxtaposition to art or kitsch, people in art spaces, or even, people as art.
In 1978, I was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras. By fluke, I stayed in the same hotel as a group of crossdressers who invited me to join them for breakfast on the last morning. When I took a group picture, I was moved by the experience of looking into the eyes of one of the people in the group: I felt as if I was looking at the essence of a human being rather than a man or a woman. From 1978 through the ’80s, I photographed and interviewed male-to-female crossdressers with their families, culminating in the publication of “Transformations: Crossdressers and Those Who Love Them”, and an exhibition at the Simon Lowinsky Gallery in 1990.
In the ’90s, I expanded my work to focus on female-to-male and male-to-female people who live in the gender in which they identify. My second book “The Gender Frontier” is a collection of photographs, interviews, and essays covering political activism, youth, and the range of people that identify as transgender in mainland USA, shot between 1992 and 2003 when it was published by Kehrer, Heidelberg, Germany. “The Gender Frontier” won the 2004 Lambda Literary Award in the Transgender/Genderqueer category.
Since the publication of “The Gender Frontier”, I have continued my work with gender variance, both in the US and abroad. I am currently interested in doing more in-depth work with transgender women in Cuba, and transgender veterans in the US.
Along with my focus on gender variance, I have enjoyed playing with flowers and fantasy, which relates to my background as a painter. “Scapes”, a new series, deals with color, space, and cultural juxtapositions such as east and west, old and new, handmade and manufactured. I see this series as related to painting and collage as well.
Along with exhibitions and books, I give slide presentations on gender issues and consult for documentary films that include transgender themes. In 1998 I worked with Kate Davis and David Heilbroner on a film for A&E television: “The Transgender Revolution”. It was the first documentary to emphasize political issues along with personal stories. It was nominated for a GLAAD media award.
“Southern Comfort”, Kate Davis’s next film, for which I was the consultant and still photographer, won the 2001 Sundance Film Festival Grand Prize in documentary film. It documents the last year in the life of Robert Eads, a female-to-male transsexual who was dying of ovarian cancer. “The Gender Frontier” includes images taken over many years of the people featured in “Southern Comfort”.
My work is in a number of collections, both private and institutional, and has been exhibited internationally. It is being archived by Duke University’s Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, and the Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s Studies.
For more information on Mariette Pathy Allen view her website: www.mariettepathyallen.com