Photographer, director, writer and actor, the North-London creative showing the genuine talent of the United Kingdom.
To check out Adam’s top ten songs he’s been listening to recently:
Adam Savva is a 20-year-old creative from North London, someone who has his eggs in many baskets. With a passion for writing, directing, acting and photographing the world around him. With a “Greek-Portuguese heritage” he seeks “stories, whether they be films, TV Shows, Books, or just a story recited by a person;”. “As a kid it started when my Dad used to tell me stories before bed. Now growing up I realised that nearly everything in this world is inspired by a story. Religion, Science, Morals, Teachings. All centre around a story.”
It’s this aspect of a story that is Adam’s focus, “it’s the thing that centres on my work.” As well as the “people”.
Life at the moment has altered the way we see the world; photography offers a snapshot into culture. As Adam says, “photography can be a lot like theatre. You work to construct something using actors (models), lighting, staging, and a story to educate, emote or inspire an audience member.” It’s this aspect where “a single image can spark a wave of emotions.” It’s also “People fascinate me. Everyone in this world has something to talk about.” Aiming to “capture the real nature of people and then heighten it using colours and staging. Bringing the psychology to light.” Bringing a sense of feeling to a snapshot, “I love psychology, whilst I never studied it directly, I’ve done my own research and deciphered my own ideologies.” Whilst also looking back to photographers who have inspired him, “Annie Leibovitz, Uzo Oleh (who I’ve had the pleasure to meet), Sebastião Salgado and a lot of others.” The aim is to capture “that millisecond of thought in someone.”
Lockdown has posed many questions for people, “society is being exposed at the moment. Because of so many factors playing at once.” With a sense of “confirming a lot of the truths about our society that I didn’t really want to believe were true.” Like the idea of society “ignoring things because it’s easier to do that then actively say “this isn’t right”. The fact it’s 2020 and people care more about their pocket than the rest of the world is something I’ve always known, but now is when we really see it.” However, saying all of that “we’re seeing a slight shift in that and people are starting to care more about collectiveness and community a little more.” With ‘Black Lives Matter’ “Protest. Protest more. Protest bigger is what I say; until there is definite change. We need more of that. That’s what we need. To be more vocal about the things we don’t like! We need to use our voice.” It’s taken “this long for many white people, some in bloody power, to realise the way they’ve treated black people,”. The aim is to “realise what the bigger picture is in this world. We’d rather experience our successes together instead of being alone in a world of hatred and segregation. That’s the fundamental part of living. We do the things we do to be successful so we can explore different things in the world.”
As a young creative, lockdown makes everything so much harder, however, as someone from a lower-class background this is doubled. “From the lack of physical resources, the emotional and mental constant beat down that you might not make it, that dreaming too high is ridiculous.” “It’s important to tell people from the lower class to not give up, because it is really easy to. I think we should instead tell them; it’s going to make their story much more interesting.” Adam has a photography series online, exploring “how the world might perceive someone because of the way they look or when they say, “I do XYZ or I’m XYZ”. In comparison to who they really were. What inspires them, why they want to do what they want to do.” Also making it “a virtual looking magazine on my website with articles I wrote.” On the morning of the shoot, “the studio I was going to use cancelled on me, so within fifteen minutes me and my Mum turned my conservatory into a studio using builders lights we had and some wallpaper and other materials I found.” It’s about showing who “people really were, not how society expects them to be.” Shooing “in my home, works. When are you completely yourself if you’re not in your own home?”
Going forward, Adam has a “major goal heading into the middle-end of 2021.” Aiming to get into action, whilst also working on, “motion, including things like short films, and other visual projects including a documentary, podcast and possibly another photography series.” “I want to bring my voice into other people’s voices through music videos, films and photography. I like doing a lot of everything, really. I think life’s too exciting and long to stick to just one thing.” Some other creatives who deserve recognition, “Savs. Jay Young. Joe Jennings (JKP). Tyrus Kane. Katerina Joannou. Paul Gialo. Caroline Akintunde.”
Many people have learnt a lot about culture and themselves whilst on lockdown. With everyone being “forced to sit at home and actually look at our own lives and the society we live in.” Whilst Adam has “learnt a lot about religion, culture, politics, societal issues…the world, what I want to do with myself. But that’s all really heavy stuff. I’ll just stick with the fact I can sometimes be a little lazy…and I’m working on it.”
For now, you can find more about Adam here: