From the LGB Alliance’s Kate Harris:
Tim Walker was inspired to create his exhibition Fairyland – currently at the National Portrait Gallery – by this plaque commemorating the first GLF march in London 27 Nov 1970. The National Portrait Gallery tells us: “In preparation for this exhibition, he (Walker) spent the past five years photographing dozens of activists, performers, artists, and writers in his inimitable style. These new pictures are the result of Walker’s quest to connect with queer trailblazers in Britain and beyond”.
The lesbian who spoke at the 1970 march was @BevJacksonAuth – yet her portrait is missing from the exhibition. Why is that Tim Walker? And what do you have to say @NPGLondon?
The suspicion is that Bev Jackson – LGB Alliance co-founder with Harris – was left out because the exhibition is very much driven by the TQ bit of the LGBTQ: the trans/queer crowd. They don’t like the LGB Alliance’s sex realism.
The NPG: Tim Walker’s Fairyland: Love and Legends
Tim Walker’s Fairyland is an exploration of queer identity, community, and love through the lens of one of Britain’s foremost photographers.
Walker rose to prominence in the 1990s with his unique style of whimsical photography inspired by fairytales and adventures. He has photographed famous faces including Chappell Roan, Lady Gaga, Hunter Schafer, Miriam Margolyes and Frank Ocean, with his work featured in international magazines including Vogue, Vanity Fair, W, LOVE, Another Man and i-D.
In preparation for this exhibition, he spent the past five years photographing dozens of activists, performers, artists, and writers in his inimitable style. These new pictures are the result of Walker’s quest to connect with queer trailblazers in Britain and beyond.
This exhibition takes visitors on a journey into Walker’s inner world – a vivid tapestry woven from his many inspirations and influences. Exuberant portraits and fantastical landscapes combine to create an unforgettable celebration. Walker’s creativity runs free, and his Fairyland is a place where everyone has the freedom to be themselves.
The exhibition is curated by Susanna Brown and is accompanied by a new book featuring contributions written by Travis Alabanza, Russell T Davies, Shon Faye, Lisa Power and Joelle Taylor.
You can get a flavour of it here on YouTube. Note the trans-heavy names – Travis Alabanza, Shon Faye….
The National Portarit Gallery has form on this. I went to the Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize 2025 in January. There was one portrait of a man in a dress:
“Allana appears strong and reflective standing in an ordinary suburban street. Her portrait forms part of Steve Reeves’s moving tribute to older members of the LGBTQ+ community who were living before the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK in 1967. Allana transitioned ten years ago, after suffering much of her adult life from depression and gender dysphoria, and only finding inner peace when under water as a Navy diver. “Becoming who I am has been, in short, nothing but hard, hard work”, she says.“
As I said: “No reason to believe he’s gay, and if he is he certainly took a long time to come out. But to be a cross-dressing man now is to be a hero, even if the photo is nothing special – so here we are. A man in a dress in a suburban street.”
But worse, much worse, was Freedom, by Pip Jay King – “radiating gender euphoria on a spring day“, showing off her scars after a double mastectomy:
“Pip Jay King has been photographing Danni over the past four years, following their personal journey as a transgender and non-binary person. Danni’s experience, undergoing top surgery and masculinising hormone therapy, is visualised in this moment of joy and serenity. Through this documentation Danni is able to see themselves as King does: “at home in their body, radiating gender euphoria on a spring day.” The bodily details we can see indicate a personal passage which is captured in this moment of liberation.“
I dread to think what horrors await at this year’s photography exhibition.
Leave a Reply