In 'Photographer,' Campbell Addy Makes a Triumphant Return to a Difficult Past

Campbell Addy has never been this vulnerable. In Photographer, a six-part documentary by National Geographic, seven stellar photographers from various disciplines, including Addy, are featured as they embark on monumental projects while highlighting the particularity of their practice along the way. The series explores the staggering visions that carry the work of some of the world’s brightest photographers. Addy’s episode, titled “Campbell Addy: Feeling Seen,” finds the award-winning photographer at his most open, while working on an ambitious project: his first solo exhibition.

The episode follows Addy as he prepares for the show in London, “I Love Campbell.” The title might sound simple, slightly narcissistic even, but in the series, the viewer is shown the difficult, yet triumphant journey that inspired it. The exhibition — of various photographs, films and paintings — shifts focus from the high fashion editorials Addy has come to be known for to Addy himself. Growing up queer, African, and religious; he has spent the better part of his life figuring out how to make peace with these supposedly unlikely identities.

“It feels good to be vulnerable,” the South London-born artist tells OkayAfrica, about sharing his personal and artistic journey in the documentary. “I feel like I'm hiding in plain sight. Wait no, I'm not hiding, just in plain sight.”

Finding a home in photography

Addy was born into a Ghanaian family and raised by a Jehovah’s Witness mother in a low-income neighborhood - a fact of his life that, as he shares in the documentary, functioned as a steady source of creativity. At 17, Campbell ran away from home after being outed by his brother to their unwelcoming church community, and was afraid his mother would send him to Ghana, which he says made him feel imprisoned. He eventually cut off communication with his family and embarked on a tumultuous upbringing, marked by foster homes and chosen families.

For much of this documentary, and also in his exhibition, Addy is seen making attempts to return to events of his past; sometimes to repair them (as we see in his reconciliation with his brother) or to find meaning and inspiration from them (as we see in the artworks for his exhibition inspired by a Jehovah’s Witness religious text). “Who knows, maybe I am subconsciously playing out my family’s history via the book of bible stories,” he says in the documentary.

Although Addy has photographed important cultural icons, from Beyonce to Naomi Campbell, Meghan Markle to Megan Thee Stallion, he talks about the many trials that still come with being a Black artist in the creative industry. In one scene, Addy shares an experience where an artist’s manager questions his ability to photograph a white person as well as he does Black people. But for Addy, his ability lies not in who he photographs, but in the intentions behind his photographic eye, which he describes simply as “a critical eye.”

“I think so long as I'm critical, I'll always be making work that means something. I'm going to make sure I ask myself, ‘Why am I taking this photo? What is it for? What are my feelings?’ So long as I do that, then I'm good,” he says.

Going to Ghana

The documentary follows Addy as he journeys to his homeland of Ghana to shoot images, and also create his first foray into film. In a scene where he and his crew are shooting models in a riverine community, he only partly prepares for his photographs so as to find himself surprised at the end. It is a relinquishing of control that’s a testament to the uniqueness of his practice.

“Since filming the documentary and shooting in Ghana, I have applied it to more projects than I usually would have just because I think I have more confidence in myself,” Addy says. “I trust myself more. So there's a level of work that I'm always going to create, but sometimes it's nice to push yourself. The more challenged I am in my craft, the better the work becomes. So being controlled all the time and controlling all the factors sometimes is not the best.”

Writer, creative director and Addy’s collaborator in Ghana, Ekow Barnes, tells OkayAfrica he is most impressed by Addy’s ability to create a space for others to open up, too. “He creates an environment on set that allows for vulnerability, ensuring that each photograph or film captures the essence of the subject's character and story,” says Barnes. “His dedication to representing underrepresented communities in such a dignified and powerful way is both inspiring and transformative.”

By the end of the episode, Addy’s own vulnerability is on full display, both in his work and personal life. We see him discuss his psychosis diagnosis in 2017. We see his eyes grow cloudy as he shares the details of that period in his life for the first time. We see him, despite his staggering resume, be nervous on the opening day of his exhibition. We also see Addy as he reaffirms himself, noting with satisfaction the final form of his exhibition that unabashedly tapped into many bitter, unglamorous details of his life.

In the coming months, Addy plans to return to his first artistic outlet, Nii Journal, where he began his mission of subverting ignorant ideas of what it means to create images of Black people. And for this documentary, he hopes that people can take something from his story. “I hope people can understand that the things I used to think were my weaknesses, my lack of family or my lack of mental health or economic strife, those became the pillars of which I've used to stand very tall and create the work that I've created. So, I hope anyone who watches my episode stands on their shortcomings and uses that to become their success.”