Sam Smith - Artists at work
Sam in front of “hope and desperation” which he has also named his floating art gallery on regents canal.
I had seen what was essentially a floating raft with walls on my regular walks along regents canal slowly being built into something that resembled a structure over the course of a couple of months. There were often tiger paintings on the outside and labelled as part of the artists “100 Tigers project”.
The artwork was eclectic and had the “child like” playfulness of artists like Picasso, spanning the full spectrum from realism to complete abstraction. I’d been wanting to start a project of photographing artists whilst at work, as this has always been something I’ve been drawn to and is a slight departure from my usual headshots. So, one day on my way back from my usual haunt and with a touch of Dutch courage I saw Sam on the boat and bit the bullet and actually asked if he would be interested in me photographing him on his boat.
It’s still a slightly weird thing for me to ask people to photograph them as it’s not something I’ve ever had happen, so I’m always unsure how people will react. Fortunately Sam not only agreed, but was enthusiastic about the idea.
This then branched into a handful of different potential projects as it took a couple of months to actually arrange the photoshoot. I would see Sam frequently on the boat and have a chat and each time he would have a new things that he was working on, either on the boat, or with his artwork. The same was the case for me as a simple portrait session turned into multiple interview and photographic series with artists and entrepreneurs that I wanted to embark upon.
Eventually we got to the shoot/interview and a handful of photos here are from this initial shoot that was done on a freezing day in the middle of winter and since then I have gone back to photograph him at work both on his boat and in his studio in Camden, just round the corner.
There’s an endless amount of things to capture in Sam’s surroundings, both on his boat and in his studio and I don’t think any photographer could capture a even tiny fraction of in a single session. Having spoken to Sam about this it’s something that he actively and purposefully curates, largely from found objects that he modifies. And yet everything still manages to look like it grew in the space it occupies in his surroundings.
Since then he has also become a good friend, which goes to show how photography can invite connection not only between the viewer and the subject, but also between the photographer and their subject.
