UK-based 23-year-old TJ Sawyerr and 24-year-old Elliot Hensford combined creative forces three years ago–Elliot coming from a documentary photography background and TJ coming from a modeling and creative direction background. Since then, the pair has worked with everyone from Timberland and KidSuper, to Travis Scott, Lauryn Hill, and André 3000, with a strong throughline of Black beauty and excellence.
Over the years of working together, TJ and Elliot have built a distinct visual language, learned the ins and outs of the industry, and exchanged knowledge with each other, allowing for a completely fluid and trusting relationship.
Their individual and collaborative work caught the eye of director Simon Chasalow—who’s been a US-based mentor to the duo, allowing them to be trusted by Chasalow as co-creative directors for the ‘Two Six’ music video for the leading song on J.Cole’s final album.
Complex talked to TJ and Elliot about their creative partnership, their visual inspirations, advice to young creatives, and their impact on J. Cole’s ‘Two Six’ video.
How did you guys meet, and how has this partnership developed over time?
TJ Sawyerr: We're talking about 2023. At the time, I was pushing into this world of image-making, but without a lot of the technical skills. I was more so a creative director.
[Elliot], on the flip side, had come from capturing a lot of the most striking images from a documentarian perspective. A lot of the more profound images that were happening within the music space on the Afro side in Europe, El was capturing on the road. Whether it was with Burna Boy, Wizkid, Ayra [Starr], or Stormzy. It was music-centric.
We linked up in London, and El was very interested in exploring how to really make images in a more controlled environment, and transition from a moment capturer to a moment maker. I think there's a fine line between those things. He was interested in seeing how he could make those moments himself, or how we could make them ourselves.
Because we align so closely from an approach perspective—not even from an executional perspective—we built a visual language that did not exist for us at the time. There would be huge creative synergy as much as there was just a mentality-based synergy. A get-up-and-go mentality, a real interest in current culture, a globalized view, and just not so much of a transactional approach to creative, which isn't common.
Elliot Hensford: The one thing throughout, which definitely hasn't changed is that mentality of: the image always comes first, and the money will follow.
Can you guys break down your collaborative process?
TJ Sawyerr: El is a bit more photo first. I'm a little bit more production first, and then the creative is the middle ground that exists, which is totally fluid.
It's co-creative direction. El is the shooter, but on any given day, I might be on the digital [camera] doing the test, while he's got the analog [camera] in his hand. From a production perspective, that's where I lead a little bit more, because my preference is that he can focus on lensing it from a technical perspective as best as possible.
Elliot Hensford: Even though it's me who shoots, I shoot slightly differently with TJ than I do if I were on my own, because I also have a consideration of what he will like. Because I have a lot of trust in what he wants to do from a pose perspective, a movement perspective, I'll let him have the floor. If there's anything I feel blatantly against, I'll make that tweak, and it usually will end up in a much better result.
Your photos and your color palettes are very painterly to me, and I'm wondering if your work references other mediums?
TJ Sawyerr: EL has all the books and the archive image references, so [he has] a very good knowledge of traditional Afro imagery, which is what I've grown up around, and I'm on the continent a lot of the time. My family is very much rooted in our Ghanaian roots.
In West Africa, color theory and ostentatious, high-saturation, vibrant dressing are just the norm. So even though I wear black a lot of the time, I'm looking at that in order to tell these stories. Color theory is a very prominent part, and there is a science to it as much as it's to do with what meets the eye. Part of what we're doing is trying to play and understand the psychological battle of what's going to be visually stimulating, as well as what's going to make the most sense for whatever we're doing. It's all very much real-life referencing, as well as a study of archive imagery more than anything else.
What kind of archives do you have that you’re looking through?
Elliot Hensford: One of mine and T's favorite photographers [is] Malick Sidibé. This guy only shot black and white, and to me, there's still color in his images.
How were you guys approached to work with J.Cole on the ‘Two Six’ video?
TJ Sawyerr: We can't take anything away from the main director, Simon Chasalow, who's excellent, and who's been a real mentor for us over the last couple of years when it comes to integration into the US market as image-makers. He'd always been expressing a lot of interest in working with us. Little did we know it would kind of be on one of the biggest moments of his career, and a moment that will etch itself in history.
[Simon] wanted us involved, less so in the traditional sense that we usually work, from a pre-production perspective, [but] more so from an eye perspective. When it came to a lot of the details, art direction, framing, and composition, he really wanted that support on the project and that second and third set of eyes.
Where we were able to impact [the project] the most was on that first stretch across five days in [North] Carolina. Then, from an edit perspective, we're pretty involved. For a video like [Two Six], there's hours of footage that remain in the vault and will never be seen. So, to have ultimately figured out the balance of that, we were able to have a pretty strong impact on the structural approach to the edit, as well as some of the messaging that is conveyed.
How does it feel to be part of such a personal and reflective project?
Elliot Hensford: I think we knew when we were shooting it that it was going to be special, and I think it was when we got that second or third cut that had a bit more of the structure in it, [and] we kind of knew this was going to be one of those ones.
When I was touring with Burna [Boy], I'd done a studio session for the song on the album called ‘Only You’ and [I] was always just super impressed by how amazingly humble Cole was.
I probably met Simon four years ago. His initial interest in me was to be a tour photographer with Cole on ‘The Off-Season’. Then there were a couple of conversations about potentially doing the Dreamville festivals, and a bunch of other stuff. So for the last four years, there’s been the instinct that something with Cole would happen, but I definitely didn't anticipate it would be creative directing the lead video on his final album.
TJ Sawyerr: I think it’s important to note, when it comes to a guy like him, Cole is the creative director. Our credit is there and we feel earned, but there's so much that goes on in that mind that I can't account for, or even attempt to take credit for. He was in the edit sessions. He was sitting in and was very particular about the approach. For us, it felt supplementary, though valuable, ultimately just an extension of what is such an incredible, elevated mind, so to even be respected in a way to coexist with a thinker like that and contribute to their vision was a real pleasure.
What's it like working with Cole?
TJ Sawyerr: He's a totally normal guy. No stylists, nothing. Pulls up on his own. Just the humblest. He was perfectly prepared to shoot outdoors on the street. We're at the crib for multiple hours. The first time we met him was on the first shoot day, and he was completely open arms and just a chill and understated guy to be quite honest. The shots in the Waffle House and at Tallywood—we were just outside, there wasn't a rush.
We've been able to work with a lot of artists and legacy acts of a similar scale, and the humility factor just meant for a much smoother process. It means a 16-hour day feels a little bit easier than dealing with some of the bullsh*t that you get from some of these other A-list guys.
Elliot Hensford: When an artist is like that, you do want to go the extra mile, and there was no feeling across those three days that he wasn't very grateful for us to be there. I'd met him a couple of times before that shoot, and he'd remembered, which was nice because obviously he's f****** J.Cole. It's like, why would you even remember that I was in one session you did in New York in 2022? So yeah, [a] very special individual and [an] equally special project for sure.
What advice would you guys give to young creatives trying to break into the industry or find their place?
Elliot Hensford: When I started [photography], I was never really open. I didn't even really understand why people shot film. So, the biggest thing I've learned, I suppose mainly from working with T, is to be open to other people's perspectives and stay collaborative. In terms of actually breaking in, you just got to shoot, you just need to find things that make you tick, and pick up that camera and go shoot, because ultimately you can't get clients or projects without work to show. It's always better to go out and fail than [to] just not go out at all.
TJ Sawyerr: It's recognizing that there is a necessary evolution to whatever process you're currently observing in order to continue on an upward trajectory. The images, the approach, and the technical skill set that got you to level one are not going to be the same skill set that gets you to level two. In this day and age, a lot of image makers complain about the state of the game because of how oversaturated it is, and that's a stubborn lack of willingness to adapt or to grow into the current moment.
Shooting what you want to be known for is paramount, and it’s just figuring out why you're doing it. There's got to be a “why” behind what you're doing, or else you're not going to get up every day and be excited to do it.
I feel an unwavering duty to shed a positive light on my people, and people who come from where I come from, and bring as much prosperity, visibility, and opportunity back to those people as I can.
I want to make money so I can keep shooting. I just want to continue making freely. That's why the money needs to come in every month. That's how we keep it rolling, and why the lights stay on, and why the camera shutter keeps firing.