Sam Taylor Johnson

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.

Over the past 30 years, Sir Elton John and David Furnish have carefully built an unrivalled collection of photography. Remarkable in its range and depth, it's a who's who of photographer and subject ranging across disciplines from fashion and film to landscape and reportage. This book presents 150 of the most important photographs from artists including Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Nan Goldin, David LaChapelle, Robert Mapplethorpe, Zanele Muholi, Helmut Newton, Cindy Sherman, Andy Warhol and Ai Weiwei. Featuring an afterword from Sam Taylor-Johnson and an in-depth interview with Sir Elton John and David Furnish by Russell Tovey and Robert Diament, as well as curatorial insights into themes within the collection - Fragile Beauty shares images that are beautiful, dynamic, striking, sometimes disturbing but always inspiring.