THE SECRET LIFE OF THE PENCIL

Photographer Mike Tinney and industrial designer Alex Hammond worked in collaboration to produce “The Secret Life of the Pencil” – a book about the power of the ubiquitous pencil in the creative industry. The duo reached out to other established creatives, asking them to share their writing utensils for a photo shoot.

Philippe Starck’s is a stylish black and red, Paul Smith’s is a classic jewel-like thing worth £3,000 (a present from Jonathan Ive), William Boyd’s is nicely aged and rusty, while Anish Kapoor’s is sculpted into a mini ArcelorMittal Orbital tower. “The pencil and its ability to bridge the gap between hand and paper so effectively makes it exceptionally powerful, and as we’ve found, still much loved amongst the creative heroes of our generation… For each pencil we art directed the shoot to have a very subtle ‘nod’ to them or their work. When that wasn’t suitable, we let the pencil they had chosen to represent them talk for itself, documenting them in their purest form.”

 

All Rights Reserved to Mike Tinney and Alex Hammond

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