Sam Taylor-Johnson: The Self and the Portrait

The definitive monograph on the internationally acclaimed photographer turned Hollywood filmmaker, this volume explores the distinctive approach to portraiture that has shaped every facet of her practice.

From her earliest photographs to her record-breaking feature film Fifty Shades of Grey, Taylor-Johnson has consistently investigated the boundaries between still and moving images, using both to create bold, psychologically rich portraits and self-portraits.

Drawing from extensive archives across her full range of media, the book captures the evolution of her vision—from the acrobatic vitality of her iconic early “floating” self-portraits to the quiet intensity of her celebrated Crying Men series, as well as intimate images made on set and behind the scenes of her film work. Together, these pictures reveal a career-long inquiry into what constitutes a portrait and how identity can be expressed, staged, disrupted, or reimagined.

Curated and accompanied by new writing by Taylor-Johnson herself, the book marks the artist’s renewed focus on photography. Published in tandem with a new series of self-portraits, it offers an expansive, deeply personal look at an artist whose innovative engagement with image-making continues to shape contemporary visual culture.