You know what sometimes it not about the clothes but all about the person. Evon walked past with her friend and I thought wow, wow. But did nothing. 2 minutes later she passed again and I thought OK you know what, this person is a gift. She was just too beautiful to let go a second time. As I have been shooting a lot of Street Beauty Evon is a perfect fit. When we started chatting it was quickly apparent that we were both Irish women. Embarrassingly though when she spoke to me in Irish I could not respond in like. Instead of telling me her story she said if I googled her I would find it online as she is a singer/songwriter. I have taken her story from her site
here. It is very moving so please read on.
Evon Brennan was brought to Ireland at two months old with her twin sister and placed in Religious care because her mum was Irish, unmarried and Father African. It was not a great combination in religious western Ireland.
She grew up in a totally alien and harsh environment. Her childhood was very strict and unloving and the only way she could escape the day to day discipline of work and school was to dream and fantasise. She escaped into her own world, as the feeling of alienation in her real life was so extreme.
In her second children's home, Evon developed a passion for music and fortunately learned the piano. She used to sneak out at night and watch bands play and if they were caught they were made to stay up all night and go to school exhausted the next day. She left the school with twenty pounds and was sent to work in Dublin; this was her first taste of freedom! She soon landed on her feet and joined a band who toured Ireland.
She later moved to London as a backing vocalist, for bands who travelled the world including Africa. Then she went to America, within a month she was living in Malibu next to her hero Bob Dylan but was totally miserable, so she moved to Santa Monica and started performing piano/vocals in clubs. It was here she found her true voice and started writing songs about Ireland and what it meant being Black and Irish and independent of parental ties. She began examining her own early experiences and the effects it had on her life. She returned to London two years later and started performing on her own and has since appeared at Fleadh in Finsbury Park and the Cambridge Folk Festival.
