Michael Joseph (1941-) - Smirnoff office party

“Smirnoff Office Party” — Michael Joseph
London, 1970s — Original C-type Print on glossy paper, signed in gold pen
Print size: 50 cm wide × 40 cm high
Edition: One of three in this size

A spectacularly theatrical tableau from photographer Michael Joseph, Smirnoff Office Party brings together everything that made him one of the most distinctive visual storytellers of his era: opulence, chaos, wit, and a masterful orchestration of complex group scenes.

Every inch of the frame brims with life — statues, dogs, elaborate costumes, fruit, glassware, and characters colliding in meticulously staged disorder. The image radiates a sense of exuberant excess, yet the apparent chaos is carefully composed. Joseph had an extraordinary gift for directing large ensembles, transforming crowded scenes into richly layered visual narratives.

He was widely admired for these ambitious compositions. His celebrated White Horse Whisky advertisement and the inventive Schweppes campaigns remain landmarks of imaginative, character-driven commercial photography. But it was his legendary Rolling Stones – Beggars Banquet shoot that truly cemented his reputation for staging unforgettable scenes of theatrical abundance.

The spirit of that historic Stones banquet — its wit, decadence, and barely controlled anarchy — feels like a clear ancestor to this image. Smirnoff Office Party carries the same mischievous grandeur, as though Joseph took the DNA of the Beggars Banquet tableau and spun it into a new, surreal high-society fable.

Photographed in London in the 1970s, this print belongs to a special limited edition of three and is signed by Michael Joseph in gold pen along the lower margin. The colours remain rich and saturated, and the fine detail throughout the composition remains beautifully preserved — a testament to Joseph’s analogue craftsmanship and his remarkable ability to weave multiple stories into a single frame.

This is a rare collector’s piece from a photographer who understood that group photographs could become theatres of social satire — part celebration, part spectacle, part mischievous commentary on excess and human behaviour.

As with all pieces I offer, the work will be packaged with great care and devotion, ensuring it arrives safely while honouring both the history of the photograph and the artistry behind it.

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