Constellations, Kitandara Photograph

Steve Russell has built an enviable reputation in recent years as the photographer of choice to many of the most celebrated contemporary artists, both in the UK and internationally. He is particularly adept at photographing sculpture – a notoriously difficult thing to capture thanks to the vagaries of ambient light on three dimensional objects. Now he has turned his camera elsewhere as part of a more personal project. The remarkable images of African subjects assembled here were taken during his occasional trips to the continent over the past six years. They show a little-known facet of Russell’s broader creative endeavours, revealing him as an image-maker of great vision and sensitivity. Russell has been taking photographs since he was a child, his passion for the camera eventually prompting his father into building him a darkroom. That proved an enlightened investment, ultimately helping Russell transform a schoolboy hobby into an award-winning career as a versatile professional photographer of portraits, landscapes, interiors and works of art. Now Africa has opened up a whole new vista.