26 Facts About Sam Haskins

Sam Haskins started his career in Johannesburg and moved to London in 1968.

Sam Haskins suffered a stroke on 19 September 2009 the opening day of his exhibition to launch Fashion Etcetera at Milk Gallery in New York, and died at home in Bowral, Australia, nine weeks later.

Sam Haskins was born in Kroonstad in the province of the Orange Free State of South Africa.

Sam Haskins's father Ben was a goods inspector on South African Railways.

Sam Haskins married Alida Elzabe van Heerden in 1952 and they had two sons; Ludwig and Konrad.

Sam Haskins played a key role in the launch of his career by acting as a publishing agent for Five Girls when he was still an unknown photographer.

Sam Haskins continued to negotiate worldwide publication of his books, apart from Fashion Etcetera, his last project, a book and exhibition in New York, managed by Ludwig.

Sam Haskins started his career as an advertising photographer in Johannesburg in 1953.

Sam Haskins ran what was probably the first modern freelance advertising studio in Africa.

Sam Haskins produced commercial work across a very broad spectrum of photography from still life to industrial, fashion and aerial.

Sam Haskins's first formal creative output was a one-man show at the popular Johannesburg department store John Orrs in 1960.

Sam Haskins broke bones on river rapids and wrote off two Volvo saloon cars on African dirt roads while shooting the book.

In 1968, Sam Haskins moved to London and ran a studio in Glebe Place just off the King's Road.

Sam Haskins worked as an advertising photographer for international consumer brands Asahi Pentax, Bacardi, Cutty Sark whisky, Honda, BMW, Haig whisky, DeBeers, British Airways, Unilever and Zanders, and specialised in the art direction and shooting of calendars, especially for Asahi Pentax in Japan.

From 1970 to 2000, Asahi Optical produced 30 calendars, of which Sam Haskins shot and art-directed 15 editions including the millennium calendar.

Sam Haskins is still involved with the Pentax Forum Gallery in Tokyo, which hosts his exhibitions.

The images in Sam Haskins Posters traversed different creative themes that all became signature passions for Sam Haskins' image-making over the next three decades; graphically strong compositions of nudes characterised by a natural essence in the models, while the image-making explored themes of graphic experimentation, humour and sensual eroticism.

Sam Haskins had a recurring theme of creating tension in the surface of his photographs between flat graphic elements and 3D chiaroscuro.

Sam Haskins often developed complex lighting designs for a single specific shot that were never repeated, a late example being a fashion shoot for New York magazine's 75th anniversary issue shot in New York's Pier 57 studios in August 2006.

Sam Haskins often sculpted and painted graphic elements for his photographs and drew inspiration from a combination of surrealism, illustration, film and modern graphic designers.

In 2009, Sam Haskins published, under the family imprint The Sam Haskins Press, his first book in 24 years.

Sam Haskins developed a medium format slide show comprising up to 500 images, each displayed for seven seconds, synchronised to music.

Sam Haskins took delivery of his first Pentax 6x7 in 1970 in Tokyo but it took several years to build up a body of 6x7 slides.

Sam Haskins ran one-week photographic training workshops in Italy, Sweden and South Africa in the 1970s.

Sam Haskins returned to his alma mater, The London College of Printing, in 1975 as outside assessor on the photographic diploma course, a position he maintained until 1982.

Sam Haskins maintained close links with Syracuse University in the US, hosting groups of visiting students at his studio in London every summer from 1975 to 1988.