We don’t see the studio as a backdrop to the work. It is part of the world through which the work becomes possible.

A finished object can tell us what was made, but it cannot always tell us how the maker came to make it. The knowledge involved in a practice often lives in the quieter things: the way a hand responds to material, the tool that has become familiar through years of use, the decision to stop and look, the adjustment made when something behaves unexpectedly, the failed attempt that changes what happens next.

That is what we look for when we photograph and film artists and makers. We want to document not only the work, but the relationship between you, your materials, your tools and the space in which you work. We are interested in the conditions through which your judgement has developed, and in the moments where the work itself begins to influence the decisions being made.

We therefore don’t ask you to perform your practice for us. Your studio does not need to be styled, and you do not need to manufacture moments of creativity. We would rather see the real rhythm of the work: making, stopping, looking, repeating, correcting, waiting, failing and beginning again. Sometimes the most important moment is the one that would be easiest to overlook.

Our approach is observational, but not detached. We take the time to understand how you work and respond to what is actually happening in front of us. We may suggest a different position, move something into better light or ask you to return to something worth seeing, but we do not want to impose a photographic performance upon the practice. The images should emerge from the conditions of making rather than replace them.

The result is a visual record of more than the finished work. It is a record of the world, knowledge and accumulated experience through which the work became possible — something that can remain in your archive long after the object has left the studio.

Tell us what you make, how you work and what you want the photographs or film to preserve. We’ll take the time to understand the practice before we photograph it.

Documentary photography of your practice as it actually exists — the studio, materials, hands, repetition, accidents, decisions and finished work. We’re interested in what happens through making: the encounters with materials, tools and ideas that shape the work along the way. Not simply the objects you produce, but the life of the practice itself — the thinking, discovery and unexpected moments that happen through the act of making.

Both. But we’re particularly interested in the process — the things that happen while the work is being made. A finished piece shows what was made; the process reveals something about how it came to be: what you notice, return to, change, reject or discover along the way. We can photograph the finished work, but we’re just as interested in the studio, materials, tools, hands and decisions that give it its life.

Yes — every artist and maker session includes a full commercial use licence as standard, so you can use the photographs for your website, portfolio, social media, press, exhibitions, applications, marketing and other promotional purposes connected with your practice.

The copyright remains with us as the photographers. You may not sell, license or otherwise commercially exploit the photographs themselves as standalone images, pass them off as your own photography, or grant someone else rights to use them. We simply ask that Sophie Deller Photo is credited wherever reasonably possible.

Yes — artist and maker sessions are the one exception where we shoot photography and video together, in the same session. A studio or workshop is a much more controlled environment than a wedding or a family day, so we can cover both without it becoming chaotic. Let us know if you’d like both when you get in touch.

Yes. We don’t require a purpose-built studio or a perfectly finished workspace. What matters is that the space genuinely reflects your practice — the tools, materials, work in progress and things around you that make it yours. A home studio, spare room, shed or shared workshop can all work beautifully when there is enough of the practice around us to photograph.

Yes — we’re based in South West London and regularly photograph artists and makers across Surrey, Hampshire, Sussex and the wider South East. Tell us where you’re based and we’ll let you know if it works.