Photographer Discovers Stranger Left Him Money in Her Will After His Work Moved Her

A photographer has revealed how a woman he had never met left him an inheritance after being moved by his work.

Self-taught photographer Devin Allen gained recognition for his powerful black-and-white images — with his photos of the aftermath of the deaths of Freddie Gray and George Floyd both gracing the cover of Time Magazine.

According to a report by WBAL-TV 11, Allen, who is based in Baltimore, Maryland, revealed how a stranger named Tamara Baran, who had been deeply affected by his photography despite never having met him, left him money after she died.

‘I Thought It Was Fake’

When Allen first saw a message arrive about the money left for him, the photographer says he assumed the email was a scam. But when Allen discovered that the gift from the stranger was real, he says he was taken aback by the gesture.

“We have never met,” Allen tells WBAL-TV 11. “I didn’t know her, but you know, her partner and the family and the lawyer said that she had left some money for me in her will… I thought it was fake, but it wasn’t fake.”

He says the gift has also given him fresh motivation after a challenging year. Allen plans to put the unexpected inheritance towards creating a space where young artists in his community can develop their work.

“To have someone that I’ve never met love the work and then have the work affect them in that way, it was really inspiring to me,” Allen explains.

A Community He Didn’t Realize Existed

Allen received a check for around $3,000 from Baran and signed the estate paperwork this week. Baran’s longtime partner says she was deeply moved by Allen’s photographs after coming across them on Instagram in 2015. Having grown up in Detroit during the 1970s and 1980s before later moving to Charleston and Utah, Baran had witnessed racial discrimination, including by law enforcement.

“It takes a community,” Allen said, “and sometimes you don’t even really know where that community is at.”

Allen’s portrait of his mother singing in her living room now sits in the Smithsonian’s permanent collection. But the photographer says the past year has been particularly difficult following the loss of his mother and his grandmother’s dementia diagnosis.

“This year has been really tough for me, losing my mom and dealing with a grandmother who has dementia,” Allen explains. “That just kind of lit a fire behind me to continue to do the work that I do even despite being in these dark times.”