iO Tillett Wright

iO Tillett Wright
Born (1985-09-02) September 2, 1985
New York City, New York
Occupation
  • Television Host
  • Photographer
  • Writer
  • Actor
  • Speaker

iO Tillett Wright (born September 2, 1985) is an American author, photographer,[1][2] TV host, and activist.[3][4][5]

Early life and education

Wright grew up in New York City with his mother, Rebecca Wright, a photographer.[6][7]

During early childhood, Wright rejected gender norms[7] and lived for eight years as a boy.[6]

Career

Editor

In 2002, at the age of 18, Wright founded and served as editor-in-chief of a street art magazine, Overspray.[8]

Blogger and writer

Wright then became a featured columnist for T Magazine, at The New York Times. In addition, Wright had two regular blogs called Notes From The Underground—for which iO reviewed underground performance—and The Lowdown.[9]

Wright's first book, Darling Days, A Memoir[10] was released on September 27, 2016, by Ecco Books, an imprint of Harper Collins.

Speaker

In 2012, Wright delivered a talk at TEDxWomen in Washington, DC, called Fifty Shades Of Gay,[11] discussing sexuality and gender as a spectrum. The talk has been viewed nearly 2.5 million times.

Photographer

Wright is a self-taught photographer whose first camera was a Pentax KX.[12]

iO's current project Self Evident Truths examines Americans, asking them whether they are "other than straight", and photographing respondents who self-evaluate themselves to be "anything other than 100% straight". To date iO has photographed 9,803 people in all 50 States of the USA.

Wright's photographs appeared on the cover of The New York Times magazine in August 2010, marking the beginning of iO's public photography career. On September 22, 2010, Wright opened Breedings, iO's first solo show of photographs, at Fuse Gallery in Manhattan. In August 2011, iO debuted Camila, his second solo show, and Act Like You're Fine, a group show iO curated at Tokyo's Vacant Gallery.

Television personality

In 2016, Wright began co-hosting MTV's TV show "Suspect" with Nev Schulman.[13][14][15]

Actor

As an actor, Wright appeared in numerous independent films, on Sex and The City, and most recently, after an almost decade long hiatus, in feature film "Holy New York".

Personal life

Wright prefers the use of the gendered pronouns "he/him" or no pronouns at all, just his legal first name, "iO".[16] Furthermore, Wright has written in an article for the Huffington Post that "there is nothing wrong with being a ‘they’, but, STRICTLY speaking [for himself], the shoe doesn’t fit." [17]

As of May 2016, Wright has stated that he currently prefers the use of the pronouns 'he/him', or none "(just my name, not 'they/them') . he has stated, "That may change, as it has already changed many times, and I'm good with that".

In June 2016, Wright spoke out in support of his friend Amber Heard in her claims of physical abuse at the hands of Johnny Depp. Wright was embroiled in the scandal when he called 911 after hearing Depp attack Heard at their home in Los Angeles. At Heard's request, Wright wrote a piece[18] about his experience, coming to her defense, for Refinery29.[19]

References

  1. ↑ iO Tillett Wright. "iO Tillett Wright". Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  2. ↑ "Shades of Gay". The New York Times blog 6th Floor. 19 July 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Artist and activist iO Tillet Wright is helping to smash stereotypes". Huck Magazine. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  4. ↑ "Civilities: 8 LGBT names to know in 2016". Washington Post. January 18, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  5. ↑ Kennedy, Rose (March 7, 2012). "Photographer iO Tillett Wright Intends to Capture the Humanity of the LGBT Community in Self-Evident Truth Project". Metro Pulse. Archived from the original on December 19, 2014. Wright, 26, grew up in Manhattan
  6. 1 2 Ossad, Jordana. "Meet Nev Schulman's 'MTV Suspect' Co-Host iO Tillett Wright". mtv.com. Viacom International Incorporated. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  7. 1 2 "Who's who in these Nan Goldin photos?". uk.phaidon.com. Phaidon. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  8. ↑ Tillett Wright, iO. "About Me". darlingdays.com. iO Tillett Wright. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  9. ↑ http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/author/io-tillett-wright/
  10. ↑ http://www.indiebound.org/book/9780062368201&aff=hcweb
  11. ↑ https://www.ted.com/talks/io_tillett_wright_fifty_shades_of_gay?language=en
  12. ↑ "iO Tillett Wright". thecitrusreport.com. The Citrus Report. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
  13. ↑ "iO Tillett Wright joins Nev Schulman for MTV's "Catfish" spin-off "Suspect" - AfterEllen". AfterEllen. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  14. ↑ John Panichella (March 1, 2016). "Nev Schulman and iO Tillett Wright Talk New MTV Show "Suspect"". J-14. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  15. ↑ "Non-Binary Artist iO Tillet Wright Joins Catfish's Nev Schulman For "MTV Suspect" - NewNowNext". LOGO News. Retrieved May 29, 2016.
  16. ↑ https://twitter.com/iolovesyou/status/520320137292161024
  17. ↑ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/io-tillett-wright/io-tillett-wright-he-she-it-me_b_5324297.html
  18. ↑ http://www.refinery29.com/2016/06/113149/domestic-violence-911-call-famous-friend
  19. ↑ http://www.refinery29.com/
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