set of 2 books printed by STEIDL When Sam Taylor-Johnson climbed the famous mirrored staircase of Chanel’s headquarters at 31 Rue Cambon, Paris, she did not quite know what to expect. Her destination was Coco Chanel’s private apartment on the second floor; her mission, to photograph it. Through the door marked “MADEMOISELLE PRIVÉ”, Taylor-Johnson entered Coco Chanel’s secret world—exactly as she had left it at her death in 1971. Taylor-Johnson captures the mysterious, eerie presence of Coco’s ornaments and furniture: a golden lion, a bejewelled birdcage, leather-bound books, Chinese lacquer screens, crystal chandeliers. Ultimately we are left with a sense of beautiful emptiness—Coco’s touch is everywhere, but everywhere is haunted by her absence. In 1947 the International Circus Clowns’ Club began keeping a record of its member clowns’ make-up. Each unique make-up design was painted onto an emptied chicken egg that was catalogued and used to trademark the identities of clowns including the famous Coco and Grimaldi. Stan Bult, founder of the club, painstakingly painted the earliest designs by hand himself. Birth of a Clown is Sam Taylor-Johnson’s photographic documentation of these fascinating objects, now part of the Clowns’ Gallery and Museum in Somerset. Taylor-Johnson stumbled onto the museum by chance and has now preserved these eccentric portraits – sometimes hilarious, sometimes sad – in book form.