Sam Taylor-Johnson
Sam Taylor-Johnson
Samantha Louise "Sam" Taylor-Johnson OBEis an English filmmaker, photographer and visual artist. Her directorial feature film debut came in 2009 with Nowhere Boy, a film based on the childhood experiences of the Beatles songwriter and singer John Lennon. She is one of a group of artists known as the Young British Artists...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth4 March 1967
acting interested people proportion seem specific staging work
I'm interested in the acting and staging of specific emotions, and so I work with actors. It's a small proportion of what I do, but it's always what people seem to focus on.
people trying
Sometimes photographing people is like pulling teeth, trying to get some sort of personality.
affect hospitals people time types
People tell you you're having chemotherapy, but there are different types of chemotherapy, and you don't know which one you're going to get and how it's going to affect you. The people in the hospitals don't always have time to help you understand it.
art history people time
If you look at art history, at Goya or Gainsborough, it's always about acknowledging the people of your time who have influence.
abyss allow cheerful defeat far might people stand surprised upbeat
When I had cancer, people were surprised at how cheerful and upbeat I was, but I couldn't let myself go to depression - to go there, that defeat would allow everything in. If you look too far into the abyss, you might never come out again. You can stand on the abyss and peep but not give in to sadness.
beneath fertile interested life line lived lives people present private public quite taking work
The line between private and public lives is a fertile one for me. I've lived quite a public life, and it's the reason I have used well-known people in my work. I'm interested in what's going on beneath the facades they present to the world, taking them to a place which is uncomfortable.
constantly hard sit
I'm twitchy. I think I've got ADD. I find it hard to sit down. I need to be constantly challenged; otherwise, I get very... well, I guess 'bored' is the word.
power
In 'Fifty Shades,' seemingly, Christian has all the power and control - but actually, Anastasia does.
switch work
I'm motivated every second by my work; it doesn't switch off.
I'm not a shouter, and I'm not a bully.
I want to protect my vision, and that's the hardest thing.
ended
I try to leave things as open ended as possible, not too overladen with meaning.
difficult direct gives men references women work
It's difficult for me to work with women, because I find that direct references are made back to me too fast. Working with men, it gives it a little distance.
astute clearest detail far work
Even today I work with Niall O'Brien, who is far more technically astute than I am, but I still have the clearest idea of every detail I want in my photograph.