Alison Jackson is an English photographer and artist best known for her spoof lookalike photographs of celebrities. Peter Dench chats to her about the cult of celebrity and the role of humour in her work
In 2022 I sat on a panel of three at the prestigious Ivy Club in central London for a talk themed: The Humorous Side of Photography. To my far right is Haley Morris-Cafiero, an American photographer whose ‘Wait Watchers’ series, in which she photographs the reactions of passers-by to her presence, went viral in 2013. To my immediate right is Alison Jackson. I present for 15 minutes highlighting why humour can be an important tool for photojournalists in delivering a truth and hand the microphone to a smiling bleached blonde Jackson, creaking head-totoe in her rock star black leathers. ‘I think photography is a slimy and untrustworthy medium that seduces you into believing it’s real,’ she says with commitment. Despite our differences, I admit to being a little seduced by Jackson’s argument, photography and character.
Jackson shot to prominence in 1999 when she created black & white photographs that appeared to show the late Princess Diana and her partner, Dodi Al Fayed, with a mixed-race love child. Titled Mental Images, the photographs were part of her MA in Fine-Art photography graduation show at the Royal College of Art. She was 37. At the age of 30, Alison had begun taking night classes in art after realising her life as a receptionist wasn’t fulfilling. Using styled celebrity look-a-likes, she has gone on to be renowned for her often laugh-out-loud photographs of people we think we recognise doing what we’d like to think they do when we’re not looking; the Royal Family watching Oprah’s interview with Harry and Meghan; the Queen on the toilet; Princes Harry and William cavorting naked in a changing room; Camilla wearing the crown. ‘Celebrities are our new folk religion. Each represents a different type of person; David Beckham as a great sportsman, father, gay icon. Kate Middleton represents that if you work hard you could become Queen. We’ve a need to believe, and this celebrity culture serves us that,’ explains Jackson.
Jackson wrote, directed, and co-produced BBC Two’s 2003 television series Doubletake (with Tiger Aspect) which won an award at the 2002 BAFTAs after its 2001 pilot. She has made a series of mockumentaries and fake biopics for Channel 4 about public figures, using US President George W Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair lookalikes in a series of staged scenes of their public lives (Blaired Vision, broadcast on 26 June 2007, coincided with Blair’s exit from office). She has won awards for her advertising campaign for Schweppes drinks. She has produced witty West End theatre shows and directed pop videos. She has published books and curated celebrity lookalikes in Selfridges department store shop window to p
