Sam Haskins

United Kingdom  • 1926  - 2009

Presentation

Sam Haskins (1926-2009) is a pervasive global influence in creative, figure, glamour, fashion and advertising photography. He never courted the fashion glossies, but in the last 6 years of his active shooting career (from the age of 77-83), they courted him. In 2000 Vogue and Harper's Bazaar finally woke up and started working with the quiet genius who had been influencing their shooters for decades.

Sam studied fine art and illustration in Johannesburg and photography at the Bolt Court School in London (1949-1961), later becoming the London College of Printing. As a young busy advertising photographer in Johannesburg from the late fifties and through the sixties he spent his evenings working on his own creative projects, four seminal books, which, despite - or maybe because of - the geographical isolation, went on to become international best sellers and played a crucial role in defining the style of the sixties. Even to this day, Sam's books are on the coffee tables of the world's most influential creative figures across multiple artistic disciplines.

Haskins grew up in extreme poverty in rural South Africa and saw art as a hugely inspiring escape from the strictures of a repressive religion and the provincial values of his birth nation. With no local museums or galleries, the art came to him in his isolated hometown, Kroonstad, in the form of the circus and comics plus he made his own kites, magic tricks and drawing. Later, when the family moved to Johannesburg, he routinely played truant from school to spend the day immersing himself in art through the books in Johannesburg's municipal library. 

London had a significant influence on Haskins as a student. There was still post-war food rationing and a lot of bomb damage, but the excitement of London's cultural life, the museums and the energy around the Festival of Britain created a lasting love not just of London but of Europe in general. When the apartheid regime started to hunt down liberal artists and ban their work, he had no choice but to leave in 1968, with a close call between New York and London as destinations.

He remained highly eclectic in his artistic passions throughout his life and always urged those he mentored to absorb a wide range of art and culture,  not just photography.

He is most famous for his books on figure photography, 'Five Girls' 1962, 'Cowboy Kate & Other Stories' 1964, 'November Girl' 1967, which established him as a unique creative voice in photography and a leading master of a difficult genre with very few top exponents. Crucially it also cemented his reputation for fresh thinking and craftsmanship at every step of the photographic process, from set building to lighting to printing.

While the figure work won awards and fans around the world, there were two other books, 'African Image' 1967 and 'Sam Haskins a Bologna' 1984, which showed a set of profoundly poetic musing on a matrix of life issues: secular and spiritual tensions, duty, sacrifice, love, art, dreams, fear and isolation which he really could only express through photography.

The finely crafted beauty in Haskins's work is often infused with complex longings, which may well be part of the reason for its lasting power and popularity, especially among women.

Because he printed to make book maquettes, not to cater to a print collecting market, which barely existed in the sixties, his vintage and later silver gelatin works are exceedingly rare. His prolific artistic nature produced many different images but only a few copies of each image, which is a collector's dream. If you own a Sam Haskins silver gelatin print, be it true vintage or later, you own something which is not only historic and beautiful but which is also exceedingly rare. 'Rare' in this instance means typically 1-3 copies, occasionally up to 12.

The Sam Haskins Estate is now managed by his son Ludwig.


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All artworks of Sam Haskins
Photography, Deep Thoughts (Gill with Glove), Sam Haskins

Deep Thoughts (Gill with Glove)

Sam Haskins

Photography - 24 x 21.6 inch

$3,900

Photography, Kate Front Cover, Sam Haskins

Kate Front Cover

Sam Haskins

Photography - 12 x 16 inch

$17,300

Photography, Vivi in Bentley Knees Up, Sam Haskins

Vivi in Bentley Knees Up

Sam Haskins

Photography - 16 x 12 inch

$7,900

Photography, Anna in Hammock, Sam Haskins

Anna in Hammock

Sam Haskins

Photography - 21.6 x 24 inch

$4,400

Photography, Apple on Sill with Diagonal Shadow, Sam Haskins

Apple on Sill with Diagonal Shadow

Sam Haskins

Photography - 12 x 15.86 inch

$9,400

Photography, Bowl Lens, Sam Haskins

Bowl Lens

Sam Haskins

Photography - 24 x 21.6 inch

$3,900

Photography, Haskins Posters Front Cover, Sam Haskins

Haskins Posters Front Cover

Sam Haskins

Photography - 24.09 x 20.76 inch

$7,100

Photography, Vivi Inspecting Her Navel, Sam Haskins

Vivi Inspecting Her Navel

Sam Haskins

Photography - 16.53 x 23.38 inch

$6,400

Photography, Bird Song, Sam Haskins

Bird Song

Sam Haskins

Photography - 24 x 21.6 inch

$3,900

Photography, November Girl Orgasm, Sam Haskins

November Girl Orgasm

Sam Haskins

Photography - 16.14 x 12 inch

$7,200

Photography, Bes Seated under Lamp, Sam Haskins

Bes Seated under Lamp

Sam Haskins

Photography - 16.02 x 11.93 inch

$7,900

Photography, Kate Reward Spread, Sam Haskins

Kate Reward Spread

Sam Haskins

Photography - 16.53 x 23.38 inch

$6,400

Photography, Kate running Single Bum with Hat, Sam Haskins

Kate running Single Bum with Hat

Sam Haskins

Photography - 15.98 x 11.96 inch

$11,500

Photography, Nude bride on her bike, Sam Haskins

Nude bride on her bike

Sam Haskins

Photography - 14.96 x 12.06 inch

$8,500

Photography, Fish dream, Sam Haskins

Fish dream

Sam Haskins

Photography - 19.96 x 14.25 inch

$9,200

Photography, Kate gun belt rear, Sam Haskins

Kate gun belt rear

Sam Haskins

Photography - 12 x 15.9 inch

$8,700

Photography, Vivi with Big White Flowers, Sam Haskins

Vivi with Big White Flowers

Sam Haskins

Photography - 15.27 x 12 inch

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Who is the artist?

Sam Haskins (1926-2009) is a pervasive global influence in creative, figure, glamour, fashion and advertising photography. He never courted the fashion glossies, but in the last 6 years of his active shooting career (from the age of 77-83), they courted him. In 2000 Vogue and Harper's Bazaar finally woke up and started working with the quiet genius who had been influencing their shooters for decades.

Sam studied fine art and illustration in Johannesburg and photography at the Bolt Court School in London (1949-1961), later becoming the London College of Printing. As a young busy advertising photographer in Johannesburg from the late fifties and through the sixties he spent his evenings working on his own creative projects, four seminal books, which, despite - or maybe because of - the geographical isolation, went on to become international best sellers and played a crucial role in defining the style of the sixties. Even to this day, Sam's books are on the coffee tables of the world's most influential creative figures across multiple artistic disciplines.

Haskins grew up in extreme poverty in rural South Africa and saw art as a hugely inspiring escape from the strictures of a repressive religion and the provincial values of his birth nation. With no local museums or galleries, the art came to him in his isolated hometown, Kroonstad, in the form of the circus and comics plus he made his own kites, magic tricks and drawing. Later, when the family moved to Johannesburg, he routinely played truant from school to spend the day immersing himself in art through the books in Johannesburg's municipal library. 

London had a significant influence on Haskins as a student. There was still post-war food rationing and a lot of bomb damage, but the excitement of London's cultural life, the museums and the energy around the Festival of Britain created a lasting love not just of London but of Europe in general. When the apartheid regime started to hunt down liberal artists and ban their work, he had no choice but to leave in 1968, with a close call between New York and London as destinations.

He remained highly eclectic in his artistic passions throughout his life and always urged those he mentored to absorb a wide range of art and culture,  not just photography.

He is most famous for his books on figure photography, 'Five Girls' 1962, 'Cowboy Kate & Other Stories' 1964, 'November Girl' 1967, which established him as a unique creative voice in photography and a leading master of a difficult genre with very few top exponents. Crucially it also cemented his reputation for fresh thinking and craftsmanship at every step of the photographic process, from set building to lighting to printing.

While the figure work won awards and fans around the world, there were two other books, 'African Image' 1967 and 'Sam Haskins a Bologna' 1984, which showed a set of profoundly poetic musing on a matrix of life issues: secular and spiritual tensions, duty, sacrifice, love, art, dreams, fear and isolation which he really could only express through photography.

The finely crafted beauty in Haskins's work is often infused with complex longings, which may well be part of the reason for its lasting power and popularity, especially among women.

Because he printed to make book maquettes, not to cater to a print collecting market, which barely existed in the sixties, his vintage and later silver gelatin works are exceedingly rare. His prolific artistic nature produced many different images but only a few copies of each image, which is a collector's dream. If you own a Sam Haskins silver gelatin print, be it true vintage or later, you own something which is not only historic and beautiful but which is also exceedingly rare. 'Rare' in this instance means typically 1-3 copies, occasionally up to 12.

The Sam Haskins Estate is now managed by his son Ludwig.

What is Sam Haskins’s artistic movement?

The artistic movements of the artists are: Famous photographers

When was Sam Haskins born?

The year of birth of the artist is: 1926