Tom Sanders Photography

I received an email this morning from “Artnet News” about Shepard Fairey selling his home. It reminded me of the photo shoot I had with him nine years ago...

I photographed the soft spoken Shepard Fairey and his family in his garage in 2007 for Complex Magazine very early in my career. Had I photographed him now, I would of photographed him much differently. He only gave me 20 minutes to photograph him which is common to have limited time when photographing a celebrity. I think he gave me limited time because he is constantly working on his art and would rather be creating then be put in the spotlight. He had a hip house in the Hollywood hills but it was still just a house. I wanted to photograph him in an environment that said a little bit more about who he was… and still is. His garage said the most about his personality as it was used as an art studio and he had projects hanging all over the walls and there were apprentices painting his posters in his driveway. A true artist is always creating no matter where they are in my opinion. It made sense to include as his family int he portrait as they were all quite immersed into Obey.Funny thing, I did not know why he was such a big deal when I photographed him. Now you can buy Obey clothing attire and see his artwork all over the world.