Sam Taylor Wood

Sam Taylor-Wood, who was born in London in 1967, is a photographer, film and video artist.

The merging of a cinematic sensibility with high-art photography became increasingly important in her work throughout the 1990s, with references to the emotionally charged films of Abel Ferrara and John Cassavetes, as well as to Andy Warhol's indulgent documentaries of junkies and drag queens.

In 2002, Taylor-Wood was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery to make a video portrait of David Beckham sleeping. She was awarded the Illy Café Prize for Most Promising Young Artist at the 1997 Venice Biennale, and in 1998 was short listed for the Turner Prize.