Alison Jackson, who hails from Britain, is a contemporary artist who explores the cult of celebrity. Using lookalikes, she stages situations that ‘we have all imagined but never seen—the hot images the media can’t get.’ You will first note the resemblance between Jackson’s photographs and the paparazzi photographs that litter the tabloids at our newstands. (When Prince Harry’s nude scandal broke out, Jackson received calls from the press who thought the photos were hers.) Her work raises questions about how much we buy into the phenomenon of celebrity and fame. How gullible are we that fantasy and reality can become so blur? Why do we thirst for information about people who, for all intents and purposes, have no idea who we are? She has featured artists such as Katy Perry, Rihanna, The Beckhams and even the British Royal Family. In an interview with Complex, she mentions why she was initially drawn to portraying the cult of celebrity. Calling it a ‘new folk religion’, she says ‘I’m fascinated by how people get so emotional and so involved in celebrities when they haven’t ever met them. There’s no close relationship, it’s purely a mediated one, and it runs as an industry. The publicists run it, they make money out of it, the celebrities get a fantastic lifestyle from being famous, the magazines and the TV shows make a lot of money from it, and everyone aspires to it.’ Her works comment on ideas like voyeurism, the seductive nature of imagery and whether we can believe what we see, all with a touch of humour and wit. 

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie

Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and North West

British Prime Minister David Cameron

Mick Jagger

Find out more about Alison Jackson at her website