Gabrielle Lawrence's 'Tell me something true' Chronicles a Decade of Street Casting

Gabrielle Lawrence's new photo book 'Tell me something true', published by LOOKBOOKS, collects ten years of portraits from her casting agency People-File, which helped revolutionize street casting. Starting in 2016 by photographing interesting faces on London streets, Lawrence built an agency that shifted industry norms. The book features images of subjects ranging from teenagers to glamorous older women, alongside snippets from resulting shoots. Lawrence, who is interview-averse, describes her process as instinctive, using techniques like asking subjects to respond to words such as 'freedom' or 'death'—a method inspired by Jung. She emphasizes maintaining eye contact and reading energy. While street casting has become more normalized via Instagram, Lawrence is now exploring new directions, including a documentary and studying Jungian psychology. The book launches at Climax Books on 9 July.