Timothy Allen (born 1971) is an English photographer and filmmaker best known for his work with indigenous people and isolated communities around the world.

Early life

Timothy Allen was born in

Tonbridge Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...

, Kent, England, the second son of two school teachers. He attended The Judd School and took further education at

Leeds University The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed ...

where he received a BSc in

Zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

. Whilst at university, Allen undertook a three-month ecological research project in remote jungle on the Indonesian Island of

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

during which an encounter with a reclusive forest dwelling tribe proved to be a pivotal point in his life. Subsequently, after graduating from university he returned to Indonesia where he spent a further 3 years travelling and studying. It was during this time that he discovered his passion for photography. At the age of 27 he began a part-time diploma in photography in Hereford and for his first year project he joined an aid convoy to

Mostar Mostar () is a city and the administrative centre of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the historical capital of Herzegovina. Mostar is situated on the Neretva Riv ...

during the town's struggle to rebuild itself after the

Yugoslav Wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place from 1991 to 2001 in what had been the Socialist Federal Republic of ...

Career

After returning from Bosnia, Allen was offered his first job as a freelance photographer working at ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'' in London. A year later, after commissions from all of the British broadsheet publications, he eventually settled into a six-year position at ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

.'' A member of Axiom Photographic Agency from 2002 to 2011 his more recent work has revolved around

indigenous peoples There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...

. It was a personal project in Bhutan, India and Nepal designed to escape the "rat race back home" that lead the BBC to commission him as part of the ''

Human Planet ''Human Planet'' is an 8-part British television documentary series. It was produced as a co-production between the BBC Natural History Unit, BBC Worldwide, BBC Cymru Wales, Discovery Channel and France Télévisions. The documentary describes ...

'' team. In 2012 Allen signed with the International film production company ''Great Guns'' who currently represent him worldwide. In 2017 Allen was the subject of a documentary on

Animal Planet Animal Planet (stylized in all lowercase since 2018) is an American multinational pay television channel focusing on the animal kingdom owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. First established on June 1 ...

titled ''Epic Animal Journeys'' in which a film crew followed him on a midwinter nomadic migration across the

Yamal Peninsula The Yamal Peninsula () is located in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug of northwest Siberia, Russia. It extends roughly 700 km (435 mi) and is bordered principally by the Kara Sea and its Baydaratskaya Bay on the west, and by the G ...

in Siberia with a Nenets family. In 2019 Allen was on the winning team of notable Alumni from the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

who won the Christmas edition of the BBC's Christmas University Challenge programme, alongside Henry Gee and

Jonathan Clements Jonathan Michael Clements (born 9 July 1971) is a British author and scriptwriter. His non-fiction works include biographies of Confucius, Koxinga and Qin Shi Huang, as well as monthly opinion columns for '' Neo'' magazine. He is also the co-au ...

, and captained by Richard Coles. They were the first non-Oxbridge team ever achieve first place in the tournament. Allen owns a production company and is also the host of his own Podcast.

''Human Planet''

In 2008, the BBC commissioned Allen to work on the documentary project ''

.'' This was the first time that the BBC had employed a dedicated photographer on a landmark series. He spent over a year and a half travelling with 4 teams, covering stories of human endeavour in over forty countries around the world. Using the newly released first generation of

DSLR A digital single-lens reflex camera (digital SLR or DSLR) is a digital camera that combines the optics and mechanisms of a single-lens reflex camera with a solid-state image sensor and digitally records the images from the sensor. The reflex des ...

cameras with HD video capabilities, Allen shot content for the programme and its accompanying multimedia projects as well as imagery that was published in a best-selling BBC book, formed an exhibition and was used in the program's worldwide branding and publicity. He wrote a weekly blog for BBC Earth, documenting his work during Human Planet.

Timothy Allen Photography Scholarship Award (TAPSA)

In 2016 Allen created a photography scholarship award in conjunction with the

Sharjah Sharjah (; ', Gulf Arabic: ''aš-Šārja'') is the List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, third-most populous city in the United Arab Emirates, after Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It is the capital of the Emirate of Sharjah and forms part of the D ...

Government Media Bureau. Each year the scholarship is awarded to 5 photographers from around the world and includes a 10-day trip to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

to work alongside Allen.

Awards

*One time overall winner in Travel Photographer of the Year *Six times category winner in Travel Photographer of the Year *Five times runner up in Travel Photographer of the Year *The Pangea Award of Excellence at SIPA 2016 *Press Photographer's Year Award *Arts Photographer of the Year *Twice nominated Photographer of the Year at the

British Press Awards The Press Awards, formerly the British Press Awards, is an annual ceremony that celebrates the best of British journalism. History Established in 1962 by ''The People'' and '' World's Press News'', the first award ceremony for the then-named Ha ...

*'Human Planet' has won a host of awards including two

BAFTA The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA, ) is an independent trade association and charity that supports, develops, and promotes the arts of film, television and video games in the United Kingdom. In addition to its annual awa ...

s and an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

as well as the ITB's Cultural Book Prize

References

External links

*
BBC News audio slideshow conversation with AllenInterview on NBC's Carson Daly ShowBehind the scenes film shot during one of Allen's expeditions through MongoliaBBC Radio 4 'From Our Own Correspondent' despatch from Allen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Timothy 1971 births Living people English photojournalists Photographers from Kent British portrait photographers People from Tonbridge Photography in India Alumni of the University of Leeds People educated at The Judd School The Independent people