Sam Bassett, New York

The work of New York-based photographer and conceptual artist Sam Bassett has appeared in Flaunt, Marie Claire, and Vice, amongst other publications. Over the years he has filmed or photographed a number of high profile celebrities, including Donald Trump, Oakland Raiders receiver Randy Moss, and tennis star Tommy Haas. On shooting Donald Trump, he says: ‘I knew that whatever portrait I took had to be constructed around his normal Trump standing there pose. This I knew he would be comfortable with but I wanted to make it outrageous, so I added arial photographs I took from the top of the Empire State Building projected onto him. Then I asked him to wear Halloween wings that I had from a masquerade ball that I had hosted. Devil, demon, angel, and fairy wings specifically. His first impression was to scoff at the concept. I told him that if he was the king of NYC then surely he would see this as an opportunity to prove his universality. He responded with disdain. I then told him that one day he would be sitting next to me at a dinner and he would thank me for putting on the wings. He stared at me for about ten long seconds and then said, ok, which wings do you want me to wear first?’