As a kid growing up in a commune, creativity and imagination were a means of order for Sam Taylor-Johnson. Today, it’s her craft. Sam is a director known most recently for ‘Back to Black’, the 2024 movie that follows the life and music of Amy Winehouse. She also broke records in 2015 for the biggest opening for a female director for her adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Originally a sculptor, she began working in photography, film, and video in the early 1990s, alongside fellow young British artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin. She exhibited at Venice Biennale in 1997, winning the Illy Café Prize for Most Promising Young Artist, and receiving a Turner Prize nomination in 1998. Her short form work includes clients such as Givenchy, H&M, and Chanel, as well as music videos for artists including The Weeknd, Elton John, and R.E.M.

LBB’s Addison Capper chatted with Sam about the process of shooting 56 locations in 45 days for Back to Black, and how her fine art past informs her moving image work today.

Read the interview here.