(Credit: Frances Marshall)

Frances Marshall co-founder of Marshall Light Studio and opera photographer is a recipient of the Portrait of Britain award.

The British Journal of Photography’s Portrait of Britain award is an annual competition that explores the diversity of modern life in the UK. Winners will have their work displayed in the country’s largest photography exhibition located on digital screens across high streets, shopping malls, and train stations for one month. A hardcopy book will also be published by Hoxton Mini Press with the featured images.

Frances’ winning photo is titled “Fr. Jarel Robbinson Brown: Black, Gay, British, Christian, Queer.” Her description reads, “I met Jarel, an Anglo Catholic priest, when I was looking for leaders of religious organisations who were openly queer, so that I could spotlight safe spaces for people of faith who were discovering their queerness. As an openly gay priest Jarel writes “To understand those with whom we share space in this world, we need to see them as God sees them without the longing to turn them into who we want them to be. To do otherwise is to love others only insofar as they become what we want them to become.”

Frances has photographed many productions for opera companies such as the Welsh National Opera, Opera Collective Ireland, Blackwater Valley Opera Festival, Royal Academy of Music, and more. She is a sought after portrait photographer for many opera stars such as Michael Fabiano, Ailyn Perez, and Jennifer Davis to name a few. Using her musicology background and creative eye Frances has developed many opera singer and classical music companies’ websites and branding.