Tracey Emin - Paintings

In early 2024 I spent a number of weeks in Dame Tracey Emin’s studios in Margate & London, shooting for the first ever retrospective dedicated to her paintings.

It felt incredibly special to be working with these paintings so soon after they were finished.

The book Tracey Emin - Paintings, is out now through Phaidon. Many of the included works will be on show at White Cube, Bermondsey, in Autumn 2024.

Read more here

△ Tracey Emin. I Followed You To The End, 2024

△ Tracey Emin. Don’t Ask Me To Be Like You, 2024

▽ LED BY DONKEYS

Led By Donkeys: Adventures in Art, Activism and Accountability

Earlier this year I was asked by the political activists and artists Led By Donkeys, to document various projected actions, which became part of their recently released retrospective book.

As well as photographing messaging emblazoned onto the ill-fated Bibby Stockholm, and a googly-eyed lettuce masquerading as the former prime minister Liz Truss onto her old office, I shot the cover of the book, in the rain, being directed from all angles. It was quite the evening, and I’m proud to be a part of such an important publication looking back at such a terrible time.

Led By Donkeys: Adventures in Art, Activism and Accountability, is out now through Thames & Hudson.

△ End Performative Cruelty. The Bibby Stockholm, Portland, Dorset. 2024.

△ Liss Truss as a Lettuce. Houses of Parliament, London. 2023.

▽ RALPH STEADMAN

Ralph Steadman: A Life in Ink

At the beginning of 2020, I had the privilege of photographing the archive of revered and provocative artist Ralph Steadman.

Spending a week with Ralph and his family, at their home and studio in Maidstone, Kent, was a wonderful and unforgettable experience.

A Life in Ink is a definitive career retrospective, spanning over 60 years, published by Chronicle Chroma.

Available here

△ Ralph Steadman. Tyrants Of Our Age No.3: Experts, 1998

△ Ralph Steadman. The Curse Of Lono. Hunter Fishing, 1980

△ Ralph Steadman. Political Scarecrow, Hague, ca.1976

△ Ralph Streadman. Paranoids. Sigmund Freud, 1984

△ Ralph Streadman. Paranoids. Bill Clinton, 1999

△ Ralph Streadman. Paranoids. Marcel Duchamp, 1986

▽ THE ARTIST IN TIME

The Artist in Time

The Artist in Time brings together twenty creatives from across the UK, with photographs by myself and interviews by Chris Fite-Wassilak, the book discloses their daily working habits and motivations.

All born before 1950, this is a collective portrait of a generation who have shaped our artistic landscape. They provide a range of different answers to the question 'what makes an artist?', and a set of insights into what makes up a creative life. Giving the reader access to the studio and working spaces of a diverse group of painters, poets, choreographers, filmmakers, illustrators, musicians, photographers, sculptors, writers and creators, The Artist in Time is a handbook for creativity and inspiration, made up of artists from all backgrounds who have all in their own way shaped, and continue to shape, the creative landscape of the United Kingdom.

Read more here.

△ Painter Frank Bowling at his London studio

△ Vocalist Maggie Nicols in her London home

△ Bisakha Sarker at The Bluecoat, Liverpool

“These are artists who have found a path and followed it with conviction. As painter Frank Bowling says, with a casual determination, ‘I grew into my vision’. As if it were something there, formed, ready and waiting for him - and also that once he recognised it, he would not be dissuaded from it. He just needed time to develop the skills to correlate what he saw in his head with what was on the canvas.”

△ Ralph Steadman in his studio in Maidstone, Kent

△ Illustrator Ralph Steadman's hairdryer and inks

“‘Sorry for the mess’, was a common refrain heard whenever Ollie and I would arrive at a studio, a home, or another workspace. Perhaps that is simply the awareness that comes with allowing someone into your creative space; regardless, the idiosyncratic means of organising were always telling. Notebooks and loose papers here and there, things leaning against the wall, these are all partial steps towards a work, initial thoughts that accumulate and are continued on a day-by-day basis.”

△ Poet Wendy Cope at home in Ely, Cambridgeshire

△ Artist Performers Sue Gill and John Fox' home in Baycliff, Cumbria

△ Sue Gill and John Fox in their outdoor gallery

“How does anyone become an artist? You can train for years, or you might one day pick up a pen or start singing and go from there. The path to finding your own version of creativity is unpredictable, and the things that lead to becoming an artist are often unplanned and unexpected. It is important to recognise that opportunity and inspiration come in all forms.”

△ Artist Anne Tallentire in her London studio

△ Anne Tallentire flips through a colour chart

△ Writer, Theatre Director Roma Tomelty's garden

△ Roma Tomelty at home in Belfast, Northern Ireland

GALLERIES