Artist Research - Sam Taylor Johnson

Sam Taylor-Johnson (formally known as Sam Taylor-Wood) makes photographs and films that examine, through highly charged scenarios, our shared social and psyschological conditions.

Taylor-Johnson’s work examines the split between being and appearance, often placing her human subjects – either singly or in groups – in situations where the line between interior and external sense of self is in conflict.

 When I looked at Sam Taylor Johnson's website, I realised that she's accomplished many different things, through many different mediums of art; film, photography, publications and exhibitions.

The first work I looked at were her self portrait images, titled Suspended. 

Suspended (2004)

Suspended (2004)

The series is quite stunning, really bringing a new idea to self portraiture and what it can mean to the artist personally. Taylor Johnson explained how her ideas behind the series were to capture the ideas behind being stuck between heaven and earth, between life and death, being free but not entirely. 

I also really liked her series titled Deep South. After being invited by Elton John to take a photograph for the cover of his album, Peachtree Road, Taylor Johnson found herself a gateway into the Deep South of America, taking some beautiful photographs.

Gate - Deep South (2004)

Sonny Moody Back - Deep South (2004)

Stars and Stripes - Deep South (2004)

This is probably the series I would identify as having a connection with the theme of Maps and Networks, purely for the simple fact that the task took the artist to a new location, networking with the locals and gaining a better understanding of the area. I think the pictures are really personal to the town, and you get a feel for what the area was like and how Taylor Johnson spent her time there. 

Some examples of her moving image work are the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) which was obviously widely spoken about upon it's release, and A Little Death (2002) which we looked at last year as part of our Experimental Media unit. 

In relation to our theme of Maps and Networks, I didn't really find much connection within this artist's work. Although I really admire some of her photography and moving image work, there wasn't particularly anything that stood out to me, or made me think about the theme. Although her work is really engaging it didn't seem to help me that much with regards to our theme.