Alys Tomlinson, Sony World Photographer of the Year 2018, is to publish a book of her acclaimed series Ex-Voto. Selected from over 300,000 entries, she is only the second British photographer in the award’s history to scoop the major prize. The Ex-Voto series was also awarded 1st Prize in the Discovery Category of the Sony World Photography Awards and shortlisted for the British Journal of Photography IPA, Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize, and Renaissance Photography Prize.
The series explores the Christian pilgrimage sites of Lourdes (France), Ballyvourney (Ireland) and Grabarka (Poland). An ex-voto is an offering of religious devotion and the project images encompass formal portraiture, large format landscape and small, detailed still-life images of the objects and markers left behind. Shot on 5x4, large format film, the images evoke a distinct stillness and reflect the mysterious, timeless quality present at these sites of great spiritual contemplation.
The series will be published by GOST Books with essays by The Guardian writer Sean O'Hagan and Professor John Eade, University of Roehampton.
To pre-order the book please visit http://www.alystomlinson.co.uk/ex-voto-book/
To coincide with Alys’ Kickstarter campaign she was featured in various religious publications including The Catholic Universe and The Tablet, and also interviewed for the World Photography Organisation website.