Welcome to our new feature, Artist of the Week, in which we celebrate faith-driven artists making work for universal audiences.
SE Londoner Samuel John Butt is a photographic artist whose work has been featured on the pages of i-D magazine, used as album artwork by Michael Kiwanuka and hung on the walls of a small selection of galleries in East London. He’s currently working on a series of experimental floral images, and learning to write poetry. He’s also been developing a brand and clothing range called ‘More Love’, a way to cultivate and communicate the love that originates from God.
It’s easy to be intimidated by the successes and the considerable talent of someone like Sam, but his humility and honesty in person debunks any Instagram fallacies before you even start. Being a photographer in the pressurized maelstrom of London is far from easy or glamorous, and it’s a vocation that has forced Sam to continually reevaluate what is important, what he can hope to achieve, and the best way to take care of himself and others.
Unsurprisingly, his creative process is well-thought out: earlier this year we featured his in-depth interview with Kodak on why he continues to use film, and the inner process that informs his work. You can see plenty of his work on Instagram or his website: from intimate, humanizing portraits and diaristic snaps to beautiful, abstract images.
We were privileged to feature an exclusive piece from ‘Experiments From the Garden’ in our first ever Sputnik Poetry & Visuals anthology – pick up a copy by joining Sputnik Patrons!