Sam Taylor-Johnson has been experimenting and working in photography and video since the early 1990s. Her images and films often examine the social and psychological conditions of contemporary human beings. The British artist shows through her shots her inner reflections and conflicts: the main subjects of her works are in fact often the contrast between being and appearing and the discordance between inner and outer worlds. The characters become part of conflicting scenarios where the sense of interiority becomes fragile and blurred with objective reality. Sam in many of her projects offers an alternative point of view, filming the protagonist in an unusual way, often capturing intimate moments. In the video-portrait to David Beckham, the world's most photographed celebrity is portrayed serenely asleep, highlighting a personal moment of him that the viewer is not used to seeing, while "Crying Men" is a series of photographic portraits depicting the tears and twisted expressions of male celebrities in moments of despondency. In some works the British artist also creates disturbing images, as in "A Little Death", which shows the decomposition process of a dead hare.
