Original subtitles

-I haven't seen the outside banner yet.

[Crystal] To the show?

-Do I look the same?

It's not Photoshopped. That's my face.

[bystander] Good luck, mate!

-Oh, thank you!

-Okay. -[Crystal] Okay, I took a ton.

-Thank you, thank you, thank you.

-Hello. -Hey.

-How are you? -Good, how are you?

Good, good, good, thank you,

-just going into the show. -[bystander] Yeah, all good.

-[bystander] You are Addy. -[Campbell Addy] Campbell, yes.

-[bystander] Addy. You're from Ghana. -But my surname is Addy.

-I'm, we just came from Ghana.

[bystander] Okay I will see you later.

[Campbell Addy] See you later.

This is so cool.

-Are you ready? Are you ready? -I don't know, I don't know.

[Ibby] Are you ready?

-Yeah. Mmm. -Are you ready!

[laughing]

[Campbell Addy] Okay. Wooo!

[reporter] Today I'm talking with Campbell Addy.

[reporter 2] British Ghanaian photographer Campbell Addy.

One of London's freshest photography talents.

Entrepreneur, visionary, and fearless advocate for change.

[Campbell Addy] A bit more. There you go.

[reporter] No young photographer has done

more to reshape their industry and promote representation.

-When Campbell photographed me,

I realized it was my first time being shot by a photographer of

my own color in an editorial.

[Sam Ross] When Campbell first started working in fashion,

no one was talking really about you know,

Black art, Black voices,

and Black creatives in the industry.

Campbell is pivotal in changing the general beauty standard

in society and culture today.

[Campbell Addy] I don't know how to use these things, oh there we go.

I love Black people.

[Naomi Campbell] To be photographed by Campbell Addy

is to feel seen.

[model] Oh my God it was amazing, thank you so much.

[Campbell Addy] No, thank you! High five.

As an artist, I want to be vulnerable,

and to take myself seriously creatively.

But one thing I've learned is that I could have all the talent

in the world, but do I have the gumption and the balls to do it?

Three, two.

I don't want to be the first, I don't want to be the best,

I just want to be the change.

Let's go for it.

[♪ theme music plays]

[Campbell Addy] Sam I want to come to yoga with you.

I mean, I haven't been to yoga in ages because

I just get ill and I can't move my body.

[Campbell Addy] But I want to try.

Welcome to, I Love Campbell.

An artistic feat by the one, the only.

Oh wow, oh it's changed.

I didn't realize where we were.

[laughing]

But how did we get here the last time?

-We came this way.

[Campbell Addy] My first solo show in London is entitled,

I Love Campbell.

May 11th, 2023.

Like that's insane to me.

I am doing a solo show in like two months.

I've never had a solo show before.

Okay, are they gonna knock this down?

[Sam Ross] No this will all be for the show,

they're gonna build like a wall here.

So it will all be enclosed like an experience.

The opening night will be open.

-This, it's just me.

Everything in that space is me.

It's a big space.

-This space is actually bigger than I think...

[Campbell Addy] Yeah. 'Cause I didn't think it'd go far.

I thought it would be closer.

-But I don't want you to be intimidated by the space,

it's an incredible space.

I think it's beautiful, like the pillars.

It, it's, it's actually beautiful.

The worst case is we could even curtain in between.

Like worst case.

[Campbell Addy] People knew Campbell Addy

the fashion photographer, and the covers.

And I think people have preconceived notions of what

a fashion photographer does.

We've got black, red, and blue.

-Who's blue? -The painting.

-Oh, the painting's blue.

When Campbell said he wanted to join this agency,

one of the first things he said to me was,

"I've never had a show before.

You know, I've been talking about this for so long,

I've been telling people this is what I want to do."

We discussed about it being an art show,

about it being images,

about it being raw, about it being film,

about it being home, fear, love, vulnerability.

[Campbell Addy] I think the dress we made with Jawara

and things for the shoot, I told him to keep it, I'm gonna frame it.

-Oh my God, incredible. -So then they're gonna have like,

so you see it over there and then you'll see like

the materials of it,

but it's like organza with just powder on it.

[Sam Ross] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Campbell Addy] In the show, I Love Campbell,

I want to explore my upbringing,

talk about things that's happened to me.

I put it into visual language.

I want to bring my artwork outside of the frame of a photo.

That end is purely art photography.

And then as you come down here,

you get self-portraits.

And then you get like the organza stuff

and writings or whatever.

And then the painting.

I pull from iconography that I inhabit.

I'm queer, I'm Black,

I'm religious, I'm from England.

All of the things that I often have shunned,

I'm putting it together.

And it's the most vulnerable I've been

with myself, with my work.

And that's scary for me because it doesn't feel

strategic or cool or in.

[Sam Ross] It's a good space. I like this space.

[Campbell Addy] Yeah.

I just don't know how people are going to receive it,

and also I have to provide a very diverse body of work

for May 11th and can you imagine if I hate it all.

Left shoulder up, right shoulder down.

There you go. That's kind of cool.

I like that.

Two more frames.

When I was young, my earliest memories of people are photos.

I love looking at old photos of like my grandmother on

my dad's side, or even my mum.

There's a picture I have of when my mum and dad, "First met."

And I'm like, "Oh, my God, mum you're so young

and also look the same."

My uncle Abraham, my mum's older brother,

he'd always bring his Canon camera with all the lenses

and be so annoyed, like,

"You can't touch it, you can't touch it,"

and I'm like, "You're not gonna take the picture properly."

And he'd be like, "Okay Cam you can take pictures,"

and I remember taking pictures of my little cousins

and I don't even know where those pictures are,

but like I remember being excited about capturing things.

Because in my head I'm like, "One day we're gonna look back

at these like how I look back at your photos,

sharing my family and my history."

And so, I grew up in a tiny flat with my mum,

and my older brother Leslie, in a small little town village

called New Addington.

Anyone who's ever lived in a flat or the projects,

you understand how it's like its own little world.

So everyone knew each other, which was really nice.

But it felt very small.

Being a Jehovah's Witness was a huge impact,

and just being poor, it's the reason why we were creative.

We didn't have a TV always or PlayStations,

couldn't afford Pokémon cards, so I'd draw them.

Oh and I had an Action Man for years.

And I would just like iron my bedsheet and then create scenes

of Dragon Ball Z with my Action Man,

up until I was 13, 14.

And my brother took the head off it and chucked it in the fire.

And I was just like, "This is war."

I don't think I ever forgave him.

[dog barking]

Come on. Hey, now we're going to go get food.

If anyone's watching, this isn't how I dress,

this is just so my dogs can jump on me.

Good morning!

Wolfgang look it's Leslie!

Your hair's grown so long. Hello.

-Happy birthday man. -Thank you.

[Campbell Addy] I've got to do a call but come, come in.

[Leslie Addy] Growing up, we was very close.

Couldn't really escape him, tried... [laughter].

[Campbell Addy] No, no. Shoes out.

-Shoes off? -Yeah of course.

[Leslie Addy] Lots of energy, he could talk forever.

He would just talk so much.

Yellow Pages, that was a nickname.

Yellow Pages, it's a directory.

[Campbell Addy] I'll talk you through it,

so basically I grew up Jehovah's Witness and

we had this book called, My Little Book of Bible Stories,

and it basically dumbs down for children the Bible stories.

So I looked back at the Bible stories for this project,

like what 12 stories stand out to me that I can one visualize

and conceptualize and two that tells a story,

but in a way that's not so on the nose.

It's not necessary just doing,

really just photos if that makes sense.

[colleague] And then this is Cain and Abel?

[Campbell Addy] Yes, Cain and Abel,

so I wanted to do an embrace like in these pictures

of Cain stabbing his brother,

but not in rage but in sadness.

[Leslie Addy] We are very close like we are,

but we weren't actually in contact for some time.

And it was based off obviously um, his sexuality

and me being in the church, or

Jehovah's Witness if you want.

-He's just like, "Why doesn't God love me and

he loves you, but also I love you as my brother,

how am I killing you."

But he's going to be stabbing him with a Watchtower which is

a Jehovah's Witness magazine because at the end of the day

it's not a knife that killed them.

It's not a club that killed Abel, it was religion.

-When he came out, that was probably

the most difficult like thing

I've ever experienced in my life.

I'm a Black man, I'm from a certain area in Ghana,

I hadn't known anyone who, who was homosexual in my life.

[Campbell Addy] I was young, and I was just so scared to be gay.

For years I'd been living a double life and

not necessarily in the queer space,

just in anything non-Jehovah's Witness, you know.

It got to a point where it was, it was,

it was stopping me from breathing sometimes.

And then I meet this boy online,

and we hit it off and it was like,

you know, I was like, "Oh, this is what it's supposed to be."

And then my brother found a photograph of us in like

a photo booth just, you know, kissing on the lips and stuff.

He then went to the elders of the congregation

and they investigated me.

[Leslie Addy] I wanted to help him from the Bible's viewpoint,

get him to not be that way.

[Campbell Addy] I went from being this lovely niece, nephew,

brother, cousin, grandson

to like this abomination, detestable thing.

It was very traumatic.

I overheard my mum speaking to someone about

sending me to Ghana.

And she had my passport and the money I'd saved.

It was very much like being imprisoned.

And I said it to my school counselor,

and she was like, "We need to get you to a safe space."

And then I remember running up this road and

just not looking back, and I haven't been back since.

[chatter]

In the show, I Love Campbell, I explore Bible stories.

This is my version of it.

My Book of Bible Stories, by Campbell Addy.

[Campbell Addy] Have you heard much about the "Bible Stories"?

[model] Not this one.

This is Sodom and Gomorrah?

-Yeah, so Lot's wife, Lot's wife,

your wife, you're Lot.

...gets turned into a pillar of salt, because...

God is like don't look back to the gay people.

They're, like, having too much sex.

I'm going to burn them.

-But Aidan's like, "No, not the gays!"

[model] I'm the, I'm the problem.

You're leaving, you're dipping, you're like let's go.

[Campbell Addy] You know, I'm not running away from

the teachings, I'm not running away from what I've been taught.

It is inside of me.

In three, two, one.

I don't know many other Jehovah's Witness photographers.

You're always in this weird space.

Three, two...

So you walk through life in a very different way.

Those stories built my moral compass.

Can I have your eyes closed, Aidan?

But it's a space I guess I get to play in as my domain for now.

Who knows, maybe I'm subconsciously playing out

my family's history via the Book of Bible stories,

I don't know.

When I left home, January 2011,

there was no plan.

And for about three to four months

I was homeless, sofa surfing.

So, I had to become a ward of court,

get restraining orders.

Then I kind of went into like foster care-slash-lodging

for the last part of my schooling, so it was a lot.

And then a school counselor

introduced me to the charity AKT,

which is the Albert Kennedy Trust.

Almost like a foster care system.

And they introduced me to Richard Field.

-Campbell came to me when he was 16.

He was one of the younger ones coming into the organization.

First time he came around to visit,

I was building a shed so it was really complicated,

we were hoisting sides of a shed up over the roof terrace.

It was quite a physical job, and I roped him into helping me.

[Campbell Addy] The first day I met him, it sounds dumb,

but I was like, "Gay men build?" Like, it was so weird.

And he was like, "Come on pass,"

I didn't know anything about nails,

and he was like, "Pass me this."

He goes, "You don't know this stuff? Okay, I'll teach you."

So it really broke down my stereotype of what a gay man is.

[Richard Field] And I think at the time he almost thought

he couldn't be gay whilst also embracing his Ghanaian culture

and his Jehovah's Witness background, and I think

over time he'd begun to realize that actually

identity is complex and the more he came to terms with himself,

it didn't limit him as a person,

the more he could really embrace all those aspects of identity.

[voice] What's your gender?

I'm male, I guess.

There's no gender out there yet that I can attach it to,

so just male.

I grew up strictly Jehovah's Witness

and when I came out it was quite traumatic

'cause I'd lived quite a sheltered life as a Jehovah's Witness

then turned 17 I had to move to central London

and live a life of a gay person, which I didn't understand.

But then it was also the best thing that happened to me.

[Richard Field] He was out of the box and a creative thinker and a dreamer.

He knew what he wanted to do.

He was incredible.

[Campbell Addy] In my mind

I'm just a little South Londoner

who just wants to draw pictures of people and fantasize.

[Campbell Addy] So I don't know how I discovered Saint Martins,

but then I looked into it and I was like,

"Whoa, this is the place to be."

Saint Martins is an art college known for people

like Alexander McQueen, M.I.A, Louise Willson.

This is where the greats went to,

I want to go there too.

But am I gonna be good enough?

But when I applied for Saint Martins,

just how I grew up created a drive in me,

that became my mother, it became my brother.

My drive became my blanket in the cold when I was homeless.

My drive was unmatched.

So I was free to just be me.

So my portfolio was a representation of me.

But it paid off, I got in, shockingly.

[Sam Ross] So off we all went to Saint Martins

it was like going to Hogwarts.

And for Campbell it was all about go after it, seize the day.

And during our time at Saint Martins,

Campbell decided to open up all these kind of

personal business enterprises,

and things like Nii Agency and Niijournal were born.

[Campbell Addy] I'm Campbell Addy and I'm a photographer,

founder of Nii Agency and Niijournal.

Niijournal is a publication I created at Saint Martins

because I was mad at the world for stipulating how Black bodies

were supposed to be documented and shared.

With all my work, I always just try and think,

this is how the world views us, but this is how we really are.

It was never for only Black people,

but I didn't know how many Black people echoed my feelings.

It was like, I remember shooting Lizzo for Teen Vogue,

and I was so new to everything, and then

Lizzo's team came running over holding Niijournal.

I screamed. I was like, "What?"

She was like, "We love what you're doing."

I was like, "Are you kidding me?"

Three months later, I get signed by the CLM Agency.

[Sam Ross] He kind of joined an elite group of artists

extremely fast in his career.

[Campbell Addy] My access to the industry,

my photo career started getting bigger.

When I shot the supermodel Naomi Campbell.

She taught me as a young kid to love myself.

She called after this Vogue shoot came out,

"Oh my God Campbell, this is the best photo I've ever,"

I'm like, "Are you kidding me?"

Like, I'm out here like, "Girl don't call me

and say this, I'm gonna cry."

I didn't realize how well it would be received

by the industry.

-Yeah, it was very, it was a big deal.

-It's my first one. -I know! And more to come!

[Campbell Addy] I hope so.

[Naomi Campbell] I felt like,

"My goodness, this is something to celebrate."

It's important who stands behind the camera

because we want to give hope to the next generation.

[Sam Ross] He really did push himself, he went all the way.

From Saint Martins to now, it's an incredible journey.

-Yeah, sometimes I do pinch myself.

[rustling]

Yeah, they're huge.

[MC Barnes] Wow.

[Campbell Addy] I really don't have a good sense of size.

Oh my God.

[Tom] The drawings have come out well.

-[Campbell Addy] Yeah. Thank God. -[laughter].

[Campbell Addy] These aren't retouched which is even cooler.

They're just straight from the lens of Campbell Addy, you know.

But these are like retouch, "Notes,"

as artwork but also commenting on beauty.

I was like, "Oh I can annotate my photographs on my iPad and

send it to the retoucher."

Some of them sometimes is like a double entendre,

like increase the Blacks.

Am I saying increase the Blacks in terms of skin,

am I saying it in terms of race,

am I saying it in terms of within myself,

in terms of do I know enough about my Blackness?

Now it's images that I just care for me,

I don't care if it's fashionable,

I don't care if, you know, I'm present in it.

Yeah, you can see it...

But I hope it's the beginning of me really being intertwined

with my work more.

Not bad.

But the show being a month away,

I don't think I've ever worked this hard on something.

The show's a month away, the show's a month away.

And it's an echo.

And every time you hear the show's a month away,

it jump zooms out, jump zooms out.

And then jump scare, ahh.

I'm on my last notes and then I've got to run.

You're like, wait did I sleep today?

When did I last sleep? Have I eaten?

And then you're like, "Whoa, okay."

But I'm spread very thin.

[deep breathing]

I felt overwhelmed for a second.

If I'm really stressed, you'll see me just doing a square,

but sometimes I'm just breathing and holding it in.

-We're a month away from the show

and Campbell is going to Ghana on Monday.

Campbell is an incredibly celebrated

British-Ghanaian photographer.

You know, the core themes of, I Love Campbell,

are biblical, Christianity, Ghana,

these are really sensitive subjects and

really personal matters that you're talking about.

[Campbell Addy] I really want like jelly bellies

or frozen grapes.

Oof, it's cold.

[Sam Ross] There will be a documentary element,

and I think there will be a fashion element.

Campbell is, you know, for all intents and purposes,

he is a fashion photographer.

I don't expect him to come back just with

shots of like, the sky.

-[Campbell Addy] Three. Two. -[camera shutter]

[waves crashing]

I live on this very interesting fence of being

British and Ghanaian.

Being an artist, and still being able to have

a connection with my culture.

And every milestone I've had in my career,

Ghana has been a central core to it.

It's spiritual for me.

This time, I'm going to Ghana to create

two important pieces of work for the show.

One being a video encompassing my love of language

and my lack of language.

I want to know what love sounds like without words.

Oh, thank you.

And, the second project is a photo series,

a fashion editorial.

Everything I do for this exhibition,

I planned only 10%, so then I can be surprised

at the end, still.

I don't want to see it out to the end like this

is exactly what I want.

I want the feeling and the outcome can happen.

Who knows, you know?

Okay, let's go.

The idea for the shoot is to showcase the landscape of Ghana,

to showcase the beauty of Ghanaians.

Hold that, don't move, don't move, please.

Three. Two.

[camera shutter]

And my friend Ekow Barnes goes,

"Oh you know there's a river town,

where people live on the river." And I screamed.

I thought, "We need to go there."

All right, let's go, let's go, let's go.

This is where we need to be, I'm a water baby,

I'm a Pisces, this is it.

Ekow, can we chase people, please?

What is Ekow doing?

Do you know what I'm trying to do?

I'm trying to create great images on a time crunch.

What, you seem to be having a holiday.

Ekow, two minutes and counting.

We don't have that much time.

I think the conversation of representation has gone

hand in hand with my career.

I've heard people say, "Oh you're only successful

because you're Black," or,

"You're only successful because you have a struggle."

Let me see.

The sun's this way, so try and face this way...

I remember getting forwarded an email when I went to shoot

a cover for British Magazine.

They forgot to delete the email chain when they replied all.

And then I just see the manager of the artist

we're supposed to shoot says,

"I'm not sure if Campbell's right for this project.

I'm not sure if he can shoot White people as well as

he can shoot Black people."

Last one. Three.

We're not doing Black people,

we're doing us, if that makes sense?

Three, two.

[camera shutter]

Thank you, Betsy!

It made me a little bit cynical.

It made me realize, I'm gonna have a fight with this

for the rest of my career.

I am part of a greater consciousness of people.

It's important to see more of us.

Yeah, there we go.

That's good, no, no, no.

Three, two.

We need chest forward, curve, there hold it right there.

[camera shutter]

One day in a distant future,

I'll have Campbell Addy's retrospective of Ghana.

Three. Two.

Hopefully it'll be a bit like James Barnor's work.

James Barnor is the grandfather of photography to me.

And he's from Ghana and he's from my father's tribe.

In his work, I've always seen these glamorous 1950s,

'60s women and men in Ghana, and I'm shook because my education

of Ghana was that it's babies with potbellies and flies.

And then I'm seeing images of James's generation,

my grandmother's generation.

Seeing James's work made me feel, my grandmother's great,

you know, this is her Ghana, like, she's fab.

So his work cracked my head open to realize,

you need to be more critical about the images

you're digesting.

And he made me proud to be Ghanaian,

and he made me proud to be a photographer.

The whole exhibition is, "I Love Campbell."

So basically the whole idea for this video is something

that expresses a form of love.

Could be closeness.

Have you been in love before?

[Ekow Barnes] Daniel, you're on camera.

-A number of times. A number of heartbreaks.

[Campbell Addy] Ohh, I'm sorry. Do you remember the first time?

-No, I think the first time,

I don't know if this is love.

But I know there was this girl, I used to really,

really have a crush on.

-[Campbell Addy] Okay, make the sound. -I would hide.

No, I would hide, to just see that girl.

-Just to see her was enough? -Silence, silence.

[Campbell Addy] Wait, so your noise would be silence?

[Daniel Attoh] Yeah. She leaves me speechless, so...

[Campbell Addy] I mean silence can be, silence can be loud.

"I Love Campbell," the exhibition, and the video

is about the first time people fell in love.

I'm really excited, I've never done a film,

any video footage here in Ghana.

Alright, sit down.

Yeah. Wait one sec, go get the Bolex,

I'm gonna try something.

Hello, I'm Campbell.

Do you know what we're doing today?

No idea? Perfect.

We're going to be doing a sound experiment.

I'm basically asking everyone today to express the first time

you fell in love, but only in sounds.

And your love doesn't have to be romantic,

it can be platonic, it can be anything.

So you're going to be looking straight into the camera,

give your all to it and don't forget sound can travel

through your body as well, so you could move with your body

when you say it or you could be stiff with your body.

Just try and be present in the feeling, yeah?

So we're just creating the noise.

Okay.

[models vocalizing].

[laughing]

[Campbell Addy] Keep going for me, keep going for me.

[models vocalizing].

[laughing]

[Campbell Addy] People do not have to know Ghanaian to know

this is part of an African community

when they see the work.

In its honest and truest form.

My gaze as an artist is always going to be with love,

so I want them to see that.

I think today has reminded me how beautiful human beings are.

Enjoyment!

I do feel a sense of accomplishment

because it's like, "Okay, video."

That's literally the penultimate piece for the show,

the last thing is a painting.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

-I love Campbell. -I love Campbell.

[Campbell Addy] Aww.

It's the video that is going to be playing on the screen.

It's, I Love Campbell.

When I started this project, I didn't know who Campbell was.

Why not, I Love Campbell?

Why can't I give myself the same love I give my work?

Yeah, I don't know why it says, "Everything is a Lie."

I can't tell you why, but I wanted to write it.

A lot of the stuff I've done, like there is an essence of me

feeling uncomfortable in my skin a lot of the time.

My mental health marinates a lot of the work I create,

and in the show the painting called Nov 2017.

That painting embodies the time I was in psychosis,

so this is the first time I've done a piece directly about it.

Up until this year, I've not really addressed it.

I Love Campbell and the paintings are me

coming to terms with mental health issues.

It's a superpower to me now.

It's something that doesn't get spoken about in this industry.

We work hard to a point of, like, death.

Like, I remember being in New York City, November 2017,

Pirelli Calendar, with Tim Walker.

I'm having a great life, I'm at the Carlyle for free.

Four days later I'm in a mental hospital.

Like a muscle in my frontal brain snapped

and my brain was like, "Oh I can't repair this."

Due to psychosis, I was a danger to myself and others

just because of how erratic I was.

I was handcuffed, and I had to be isolated in a hospital.

And I was so scared.

But I am glad I got sectioned because it taught me that,

it forced me, not even taught me,

it forced me to say that the world will not end

if you slow down.

But it will end if you don't.

We forget that we are vessels that can break very easily.

You could be one minute smiling, looking cute in a tux

and the next thing you know,

you're sectioned for a couple of weeks.

That's how quick it can be.

So I'm always battling that.

I've got your email, you're on the list,

the invites go out tomorrow.

But I just wanted to make sure you are free.

[Richard Field] I'm always free for you, Campbell.

[Campbell Addy] Aww, I gotta do paintings, Richard.

[Richard Field] What time is it at?

[Campbell Addy] Good question, what time is it?

[laughs].

I always say 7:00 but that could be a lie.

-[laughing] -Mate, it's my first solo!

Oh my God, you have to dress up really, really interestingly.

[Richard Field] Oh my God.

So can I just come out in like a painting outfit?

No, best drag.

[Campbell Addy] Oh my God, yeah. That's the category, best drag.

Just come as you are, you'll be fine, it'll be fun.

I'll see you soon Richard.

-[Richard Field] Okay, bye. -[Campbell Addy] Alright.

Bye.

Ugh, my phone is about to die.

If I didn't have my dogs, I could do these two today,

if I could just stay here until 6:00 am,

do it all, I could do these two.

What's urgent now, that needs to be done now, today.

[MC Barnes] Well, when you come back

I'll do the...your guest list.

Because they're gonna send out invites all tomorrow.

So we just need to firm up your list today, which we have.

[Campbell Addy] Sorry, I'm listening to you.

I'm not sure I'll invite my family to the show.

I don't know.

[sighing]

My brother, yes, 'cause we talk.

I would love to invite my mum,

but to be honest I don't think I'm there yet.

I think it's rude for me to invite someone I don't talk to

for a decade, really

to a show where they can't really talk to me.

But I'm also just a bit like, I Love Campbell,

so why would I invite you?

I don't know, who knows, but I'm coming, wait up.

[screams].

[ambient chatter]

[Alyce Burton] There's so many emails coming in,

so many things.

So we basically put together an Excel of like what is coming

from where and what because obviously there's the quote.

[Tom] Yeah, yeah.

[Alyce Burton] And then there's the invoice, so just like how many units

can we put how many places?

[Campbell Addy] This is so cool.

[Ibby] Okay, are you ready?

-Yeah. -Are you ready? Ready.

[Campbell Addy] Um. Okay.

[screams].

[footsteps]

Yo, this is kind of mad!

-Have you seen this? -I'm sweating.

Oh this is kind of major!

My face hurts.

[laughing]

Oh, this is insane guys.

This is amazing. Okay.

-Is that you? -Yeah, that's my face!

-It's your face? -Yeah, it's my face.

Can't you tell? Just a bit blacker.

[phone ringing]

Good afternoon, Miss Ashleigh Kane.

-Hi Campbell, how are you?

-I'm grand, how are you doing?

[Ashleigh Kane] I love Campbell! My voice is in there.

-I know! I was like,

"Oh, my God it's Ashleigh!"

[Ashleigh Kane] Yeah, I was like, "Such an honor."

-It sounds so, like, narcissistic but it's...

[Ashleigh Kane] No, it doesn't.

-It was like, I wanted you guys to be in it somehow,

and none of you were awkward about giving it...

-[Ashleigh Kane] No, I wasn't. -Which means it isn't

something I can't ask for.

[Ashleigh Kane] Definitely! It's really beautiful.

And also, you didn't ask why.

You just believed that we loved you.

-Yeah, I was like, "Yeah can you just say it."

[Ashleigh Kane] Oh my God!

I'm so excited to see this in person.

-Same.

[Ashleigh Kane] This is not your first solo show, is it?

But it says it is. Yeah?

-It's my first one that is fully me.

-I'm so nervous actually. -[Ashleigh Kane] Really?

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, 'cause everyone's like

"Oh yeah they're gonna love it," but will they?

'Cause if you love my work for a specific reason then

I don't know if you're gonna get that reason with this show.

[Ashleigh Kane] It's very admirable to, like...

You know, you've gone from being very glossy

like high fashion...

to really wanting to go back to your roots.

That takes a lot. To like wanna...

-I think it will make my fashion glossy work

a lot better now.

[Ashleigh Kane] Wow, so like...

Obviously, it's amazing now...

but it makes you, I guess feel like you're being

more honest in your work.

-Yeah, I feel like I'm at school again,

it's like I'm learning,

I'm, I'm pushing myself in different ways.

[Ashleigh Kane] Well, I hope it all goes well and it's amazing.

And sending all my love and light.

[phone beeps]

[laughing]

[chatter]

[Campbell Addy] But I feel fine, I'm just like, you know,

In my head it's just like banging

but it's fine, I'll be fine.

It's called bougie. It's literally called bougie.

No. Is it called bougie?

[Sam Ross] Can you open your card?

[Campbell Addy] Wait. Oh, wait, is it this?

[Sam Ross] No! [laughter].

-I thought 'cause of Bali.

Aw, love you.

[Campbell Addy] Bali's where everything changed.

[Crystal] Who's this?

[Campbell Addy] Bali's where everything changed.

[Crystal] Oh, Bali. Oh, Bali.

-Quarter to six.

On the 16th of August, 2022,

and I am in Indonesia, Bali.

I kinda want to document how I feel now,

so I don't chicken out.

I will be leaving my agency in the fall this year.

They just want a status, they just want these things

and I think, have I lost myself in this parade of,

"Young Black photographer"?

And is it my agent or the agency or is it the industry?

Every artist will come to a fork in the road where they have

to choose between commerce and their own integrity.

2022, I chose to leave the CLM Agency.

We had just shot Meghan Markle and Megan Thee Stallion,

and Lizzo...

and Naomi,

so it was like,

"Wait what are you doing? Why are you not happy?"

At the same time, my best friend Sam is starting an agency.

[Sam Ross] He said to me,

"I think I need to be with you guys,

would you want to do this with me?"

And before I knew it, he drafted an email,

BCC'd me into it, resigned, he was coming with us,

and it all happened extremely quickly.

[Campbell Addy] I felt like I'd turned into this

celebrity photographer, and I've grown, I've changed.

Campbell from 2018 is not the person sitting here today.

He's looking away.

[Sam Ross] I was really actually scared because

Campbell was my first photographer I've ever repped.

It was like, you know, I may not be able to give you

what you are used to.

I may not be able to do this.

[Campbell Addy] I trust him wholeheartedly.

And it was just like, the prodigal son returns, you know.

All right, let's go people!

I had an interview this morning, talking about the show.

Yes there's excitement in me,

but it's at such a low percentage.

My main one right now is just getting through it,

and it's just getting things done.

Like there's a heaviness in my chest and it's anxiety,

and it comes from the fact that maybe I'm doing something,

I don't know, I'm showing work I wouldn't,

like it's very vulnerable some of the things.

[Sam Ross] Being an artist displaying your work is

the hardest thing you can ever do I think.

Pre-show jitters are always to be expected.

It's fully letting the world see what's in your head.

[models vocalizing]

Many things in his life have changed in

the last few months, incredibly so.

So I think maybe his biggest fear is putting this on and

coming out again as a new character,

as a reinvention of himself.

But the risk, like anything I think that

you can always, you know, fail.

So yeah, it's always a risk, everything's a risk.

[♪ anticipatory music]

[click]

[Campbell Addy] Okay.

Welcome to my Vogue channel, guys.

Is this my Vogue "Get Ready With Me"?

I'm nervous. I'm always nervous but more.

I call it nervously excited because no one,

I don't know what's going,

you don't know, no one knows what's really going to happen.

I can't do as I want to, you can't make me!

[laughter].

I feel like you embody how I feel sometimes,

like yesterday when you were like are you like, "Eh..."

I was like, "Oh, my God, he gets it. Why am I shaking?"

[Sam Ross] You should be terrified.

Especially because a thousand people have RSVP'd.

[Campbell Addy] I know I'll be ready in time,

but I have to be rushed you know, you know when

you're like, "Oh, my God, I need the adrenaline."

What's that film?

He takes the clothes off 'cause he's God.

It's Jim Carrey, it's Morgan Freeman,

it's Jennifer Aniston, Bruce Almighty!

So it's God, me, I'm God.

But make it Zoolander.

I love you so much but if you touch me, I'll skin you.

[phone ringing].

Hello? Okay, where is everyone?

Okay, ugh, Lord have mercy.

What were you going to ask?

[Crystal] Do you think your mum and your sister are going

to come to do a private showing this weekend?

[Campbell Addy] Yes.

[Crystal] Are you nervous about that showing?

[Campbell Addy] I'm not nervous, just interested to see

how my mum acts in my world, do you know what I mean?

'Cause she's never really been part,

she's not been part of it at all.

[staff] Hello?

[Campbell Addy] Hey, love. Where am I supposed to enter?

[staff] You can enter on the service street entrance.

Okay, see you soon!

[chatter]

[music, party chatter]

[shouting]

[Campbell Addy] My initial emotion was wow, like,

severe happiness I was so overjoyed.

Followed by that was this dread because I was like,

"Oh my God, everything is big, I can't hide behind anything."

And then after that settled,

it was like, "D'you know what, do I like it?" Yes.

"Has it pushed my own envelope?" Yes.

[guest] Can I borrow you for a picture?

[Campbell Addy] Yes, of course.

[guest] Can I do one with a photo, not a...

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, go for it, let's go for it.

Not bad, Judith?

[Judith] It's not bad, it's not bad sweetie!

[Ekow Barnes] Ahh! You did it! Yo...

[Ekow Barnes] This is high class.

[Campbell Addy] I'm so tired, I think I'm gonna cry.

[Ekow Barnes] No, no, no. And this 'fit!

[Ekow Barnes] Congrats, congrats.

[Ekow Barnes] You did it. I'm so proud.

[Ekow Barnes] Wow.

[Campbell Addy] It's all your fault. It's all your fault.

[Richard Field] I don't think it's quite all my fault.

[Campbell Addy] I was failing my art A-levels when I came to you.

[Richard Field] Were you?

-Yeah. -Oh yeah, you were.

[Richard Field] You said it was because you weren't encouraged.

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, and then you encouraged me,

put me in an exhibition.

It's all your fault.

[Richard Field] Did you do a lot of this recently?

[Campbell Addy] All of this work has been done this year.

[Richard Field] 'Cause he's had so much input on

other people's identity, not only through the photography

he's been doing but through the discussions he's had with

those people who are also maybe from

all sorts of different identities and backgrounds.

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, come on, come on, all of us, all of us.

[bystander] With the Mum.

[Richard Field] What's lovely is to watch people

whose perceptions have changed through the fact that

you keep going with your dreams.

And I suppose that's where Campbell's at too.

If you can have enough self-belief to grow

and to explore yourself as a person and your own identity,

you bring a lot of people with you,

and it helps other people question and change and think,

and that's really powerful.

[Leslie Addy] Are all these people here for Campbell?

-Can't believe it. -[Sam Ross] I love Campbell.

-Yeah, yeah. -It's the brand.

[Sam Ross] We love Campbell.

[Campbell Addy] Oh my God, my brother!

[Campbell Addy] Hey, Leslie!

-I can't believe it... -What?

[Campbell Addy] This is my older brother who I grew up with.

[Leslie Addy] Can I take a picture of you?

[Campbell Addy] Yes, yes!

[Campbell Addy] When Leslie saw the show, I think it was

the first time he

understood the gravitas

of what I'm trying to accomplish in my life.

He was just like, "This is a lot," and I was like,

"Yeah, it is, but it's just the beginning."

I get excited because I'm like,

"Big brother this is because of you."

And then I get more excited because I'm like,

"This also could be you in any shape or form that you see fit

because I couldn't do this without you."

[Campbell Addy] This is my brother!

[Campbell Addy] This is, this is my brother.

Doing, I Love Campbell, I had to go to some really dark places of

my childhood to create some work,

and he exists in those places.

[Campbell Addy] This is my brother!

[guest] Is this your brother?

[Campbell Addy] So I've forgiven him for his role

because I'm like, "He's only two years older than me

and no adult should have been telling you

to go do this to your little brother."

So there's a forgiveness that I have for him now.

He's the only human on this earth who can understand

my history without me having to write it down word for word.

[Leslie Addy] I was the big artist when I was younger...

and he was just copying me.

[guest] I'm going to ask him.

[Leslie Addy] It's all in his new things as well.

[Campbell Addy] Before, I was a lot more reserved.

I was a lot more timid, I didn't really invite him in.

And then with, I Love Campbell, like,

I want you to experience me.

No preconceived notion,

no hanging things over each other's heads,

just two brothers without anxiety and fear.

-I've spoken a lot of where we've come from

and what our upbringing was like.

We've been through a lot.

But it's cool, I kind of like where we are

because we had a lot of like struggles,

we've had a lot of ups and downs in our relationship,

but I'm proud of him staying true to himself.

-Hi, brother! -This is my older brother.

-I want him to be strong and succeed and to have

confidence and courage.

-[Sam Ross] You okay? You happy? -[Campbell Addy] I'm tired.

[Sam Ross] I'm so tired.

I'm so proud of you.

[Sam Ross] So, I Love Campbell, yeah,

inwardly was about finding who he was as an artist.

It's very evident with Campbell, this huge reset has begun.

He is an artist, he is someone who is a trailblazer of culture

and someone who has a lot to say.

And I think we haven't seen the best of Campbell Addy.

The best will always be yet to come.

[Leslie Addy] Are we all going in together, or...

[Campbell Addy] Come on, let's go, let's go.

Francine, you're coming to my exhibition?

Do you know what an exhibition is?

You do, yeah?

Can you hold my hand instead of Leslie's?

-No. -No?

[Leslie Addy] You hold Campbell's hand. Yeah?

[Campbell Addy] It's an odd feeling, my family,

they have not come to a show of mine collectively before.

So I don't know if they're gonna understand it.

[takes deep breath]

So, do you want me to give you a tour?

-Or do you. -Yes, please.

[Campbell Addy] Do you want to see it on your own first?

[Constance Afriyie] No, no, no.

[Campbell Addy] I'm not gonna lie, I'm being very honest.

I was very anxious.

How about you read this first and then I can show you.

[Francine] I love Campbell.

[Campbell Addy] Yes.

Just this overwhelming feeling of almost like a foreboding,

I was waiting for something to happen,

like the walls are going to fall down.

[Francine] Oh my, what's that there?

[Campbell Addy] There? What's that?

That's me, Francine.

[Francine] Mummy, look!

[Campbell Addy] That's me.

My mum, it's like we spoke in depth the other day

on her birthday.

I'm just like, "I just don't want to hate you anymore,

like I just don't want to have this rage."

I was like there's times you call for something simple like,

"Hey how are you," and I'm angry at you.

And I just, I don't want to be angry at you.

-Shall I show you some more? -Sure.

-Yeah, come. Come here, come here.

-I love this picture. -Don't touch it.

[laughter].

[Constance Afriyie] That's, Campbell that is art.

I love that picture.

That is really, like, what's the world I'm looking for?

Like a warrior, you know.

[Leslie Addy] Hey, is that your one, yeah?

[Constance Afriyie] It's good.

[Campbell Addy] Well obviously I'm not that.

[Constance Afriyie] But I really love it, can you send me a copy?

[Campbell Addy] Yeah.

You see that? That's your favorite.

Sharing my work with my family allowed me to get over this fear

that I was doing them a disservice and a dishonor

by being an artist.

[Constance Afriyie] You have your own vision of God.

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, and I always hid away from

my religious upbringing.

-So I was like... -Why?

-'Cause it was traumatic. -It is?

[Campbell Addy] But the only thing is,

I don't know anything else.

So instead of running from it, I'm gonna enjoy it.

[Constance Afriyie] Yeah and embrace it.

[Campbell Addy] And I've created this.

[Constance Afriyie] No, no. That's good.

[Campbell Addy] I did it for the 16-year-old who used to hide

the real drawings he was doing.

[Constance Afriyie] Is that why you wanted

My Book of Bible Stories?

[Campbell Addy] Yeah. 'Cause I'm trying to undo history.

[Constance Afriyie] So that's your own interpretation, okay.

[Campbell Addy] Yeah, because I think Adam's weak.

[Constance Afriyie] You have your own opinion, isn't it?

[Campbell Addy] In a lot of my life I've lived a double life with my mum.

[Constance Afriyie] Ooh, I saw you with him on Instagram.

-Yeah. Oh, he's cute. -[Campbell Addy] Very handsome.

Showing my mother, I Love Campbell,

was the first time I was able to bring my double life into one

and show her with confidence that yes,

I do still like men but I'm also a religious being.

I have gone through some things,

but I'm still your son.

Thank you for coming, it means a lot to me.

I am healing years of generational trauma

by being me, unapologetically.

I love myself enough now that I can fail in my executions

and it's fine.

I Love Campbell was just that push for me.

I do have the audacity to go out there and do things,

and it was successful, so it's made me realize that

I have everything I need inside of me to create,

I just have to trust myself.

[♪ music plays through credits]

Captioned by Cotter Media Group.