Still Lives

One of the leading artists of her generation, Sam Taylor-Johnson is acclaimed for her compelling psychological portraits in photography, film and video. Her work is distinguished by an ironic and subversive use of these media to create enigmatic situations replete with latent but explosive energy. Compulsively examining and dissecting the contemporary psyche and the place of the individual within the social group, she displays the vulnerability and fragility of the human body and self.
This publication has been conceived as two books to combine both the traditional elements of a museum catalogue and the vibrant possibilities of an artist’s book. Many of the now familiar images of the artist’s most iconic works are reproduced alongside previously unpublished images from her own archives, including personal, reportage and documentary images. The artist has asked musicians and writers who have inspired her work to contribute text to accompany images of works from the last ten years.