Campbell Addy is one of Britain’s most celebrated emerging image- and filmmakers. Bursting onto the scene in 2016, the Central Saint Martins graduate’s work is characterised by its emotionality, as well as its focus on interesting and under-represented faces – something that came through in both his publication Nii Journal and modelling agency Nii Agency, also launched that year.
Fast forward a couple of years and Addy is represented by CLM, one of the most prestigious artist managements, and has undertaken commissions for Dazed, i-D, Vogue, and more, capturing the likes of Debra Shaw, Adut Akech, Naomi Campbell, among others, and most recently drawing attention for his portrait of Edward Enninful, which appeared on the cover of Time.
Here, Addy presents a new series, specially commissioned by AnOther Magazine, which represents some of the first-ever images shot on the iPhone 12 Pro – Apple’s latest model, which boasts a camera of almost unrivalled quality. Given the simple brief of “community”, Addy’s series embodies an “exploration with friends and old collaborators” according to the photographer, and stars his friend and fellow creative Alexander Campbell.
“The goal of the shoot was to explore colour through make-up and have fun with the idea of shooting via a mobile phone,” says Addy. “Alex is a friend who hasn’t necessarily modelled, but we feel comfortable around one another to create the images.”
“The images act as a sense of pure exploration as opposed to a reflection of how I am feeling about the current climate,” he adds, giving us an insight into the thought process behind the series. “One could say it’s escapism.”
Working with Jawara Alleyne on creative direction and make-up artist Vass Theotokis on beauty, the images see Campbell (the model) covered in an iridescent blue power in some shots and a matte red in an other. The photographs are striking – both in the intimacy with the subject and the intensity of the colour, paying testament to Addy’s skill as a photographer and the technology of this new phone.
See the full series below:
Photography: Campbell Addy. Model: Alexander Campbell. Creative Direction: Campbell Addy and Jawara Alleyne. Make-up: Vass Theotokis. Assistant: MC Barnes. Retouching: Lisa Langdon-Banks.
