Mariette Pathy Allen is a photographer of transgender, gender fluid, and gender variant communities, as well as other ongoing series, including Birth and Families, The Face of New Jersey, People With Art, Flowers and Fantasy, Texas, and Scapes. In 1978, on the last day of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Allen met Vicky West, a trans woman she befriended and through whom she was first invited to Fantasia Fair, a transgender conference where she would serve as official photographer. She traveled across the US to many other transgender conferences, participated in political activism, and worked for the Transgender Tapestry magazine. She continues to pursue the work of photographing, interviewing, and advocating on behalf of gender-nonconforming people.

Allen is the author of five books that have brought visibility to transgender communities across the world, including Transformations: Crossdressers and Those Who Love Them (1989), The Gender Frontier (2004), TransCuba (2014), Transcendents: Spirit Mediums in Burma and Thailand (2017), and I Was The Girl: Art by Vicky West (2024). She has created dozens of slide presentations for various groups, participated in radio and television programs, and served as a consultant and still photographer for films. Allen’s work is included in numerous public and private collections and has been exhibited internationally. Her work is being archived by Duke University's Rare Book and Manuscripts Library, and the Sallie Bingham Center for Women's Studies. Allen is based in New York City and is represented by CLAMP, New York. You can find her online at www.mariettepathyallen.com and on Instagram at @Mariette_Pathy_Allen.