Chris Floyd - Olajida Olatunji / JJ / KSI

Excited to share these amazing portraits captured by Chris Floyd for Men’s Health Magazine.

The star sitter is known to his mum as Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji.

You can call him @ksi which stands for “Knowledge, Strength, Integrity”.

If you’re not a Gen Zer then he’s probably the “most famous person you’ve never heard of”…

A 29 year old musician, whose YouTube channel boasts the 4th biggest following for a UK artist after One Direction, Ed Sheeran and Adele. And he’s fast becoming a boxing hero, with a big fight against fellow British rapper @swarmz and pro-boxer Luis Alcarez Pineda at O2 this weekend.

 

Chris Floyd - Esquire / Not Just Pictures

Absolutely thrilled to bits to see this 14 page story about CHRIS FLOYD’s forthcoming monograph ‘NOT JUST PICTURES’ in the Autumn issue of ESQUIRE - focusing on some of the great musicians he has photographed during his career.

"Photographer Chris Floyd’s spectacular forthcoming book offers a treasure trove of pictures of the great, the good, the notable and the notorious: movie stars, models, artists, politicians and more.”

Scroll down for a short extract from the article ⏬

“In October, and not before time, (Chris) publishes his first major monograph. It’s called Not Just Pictures, and those who know and have worked with Chris will understand why. The man can talk. And he can write, too. He is a storyteller to his bones - and his book, a handsome showcase for some of his most thrilling work, includes anecdotes of his adventures, especially those in the often-fraught world of celebrity publicity. I can think of many excellent photography books, but none that pulls off this trick so convincingly, showing you the picture, and then, like a rogue magician, lifting the curtain and taking the reader behind the scenes for a glimpse of the delicate negotiations that went into its making."

Thank you so much to @alexbilmes @ukesquire.

You can pre-order your copy of Chris Floyd Not Just Pictures now…

A signed copy from Chris’s local bookstore Jaffé & Neale.

Direct from the publisher Reel Art Press.

On Amazon. Or Amazon US.

 

Chris Floyd - Photo North / "The Verve: Inside the Bubble & Half a Lifetime Ago" Exhibition

We wanted to shine a spotlight on "THE VERVE: INSIDE THE BUBBLE & HALF A LIFETIME AGO”, Chris Floyd's headline exhibition at PHOTO NORTH last month (apologies for the late post!).

“It has been 20 years since the colossal global success of The Verve's era-defining Urban Hymns, and it remains one of the biggest-selling British albums of all time. Photographer Chris Floyd was embedded with the band during their meteoric rise from late 1996 to 1997. He documented the recording, touring and promoting of the album in Britain, Ireland and the US--the only photographer to have such access. This is the first time his photographs from that period have been published, with most completely unseen.”

We love this extract from the accompanying text:

“Backstage at The Warfield, San Francisco. The man who designed so many of the great posters of the psychedelic era comes in to meet the band. They discuss the idea of him designing one for The Verve. Richard Ashcroft points at Chris. “If you need any pictures of us to work from then get them from him. He’s on the road with us, taking our souls away every night with his camera.” “Yeah,” adds bassist Simon Jones, “but we get them back on contact sheets.”

Huge thanks to Sharon Price and Peter Dench who organised the festival 👏

Full details here.

And for details about Chris’s publication “The Verve - Photographs by Chris Floyd”, described by Wallpaper magazine as “one nostalgia-filled collectors item not to be missed”, click here.

Shot of Chris Floyd at the exhibition captured by 2021 RPS Documentary Photographer of the Year, David Collyer.