Erin O'Toole, April Dawn Alison, 2019

When April Dawn Alison died at age 67 in San Francisco in 2008, no one knew who she was. Since the 1970s she had been a recluse, appearing only after work and on weekends to take Polaroid self-portraits in her apartment, dressed as movie stars, housewives and porn actresses. During the day, April Down Alison was called “Alan” and known as a commercial photographer. By night, she found the courage to be herself. As soon as April Dawn’s archive of 9200 Polaroid self-portraits was donated to MOMA, the curator, Erin O’Toole, recognized their value. Thus was born a book that is needed in a time of constant debate around what concerns gender, identity and LGBTQ rights. April Dawn Alison is a long-term exploration of a hidden, non-public self through photographs that are aesthetically successful, hilarious, funny, enigmatic, heartbreaking, and often all of these things at once.

“It’s a way of seeing yourself as you think you are, or as you can’t yet be in the world.”

– Erin O’Toole