Freelance photographer Liz Johnson Arthur has worked for everyone from Sunday Times, Observer magazine, ID, Dazed & Confused, the Face, Fader magazine. Toured with M.I.A, Blur, Seun Kuti and Lady Gaga to name a few, and during all this time her Black Balloon Archive has been growing and growing - with no end in sight.
Throughout my practice, there is a propensity to capture an exact unit of time: a tear about to drop off a face, a swimmer’s cheek momentarily skimming the water, a point of suspension in a pas de deux. Time is my main interest. I think every artistic medium uses time in a different way. This is reflected in my preference for shooting with analogue film and producing hand-made prints, making each one the product of an intimate, time-consuming process. I like to create feeling in my photographs. Tactile, sensorial and often sensual, my work surges with human connection.