Ruthie's Table 4: Sam Taylor-Johnson

On the latest episode of the Table 4 podcast, Ruthie sits down with Sam Taylor Johnson. Here, in her own words, Ruthie recalls—or at least tries to—how she and Sam became such good friends.

I would like to remember exactly when I first met Sam Taylor Johnson. Was it at the Tate in 1998, when she was awarded the Turner Prize? Or the day she entered The River Cafe with her first baby, Angelica, in her arms?

Was it when she came to see Richard with a book of her astonishing photographs, or were we just invited to a wild and glamorous party in her home that was part of—as Sam says—“the blur of what London was in the late nineties”?

And when was the last time I sat with Sam? Was it in a bar with the love of her life, Aaron, or recently when they missed a flight to Sicily and they joined a lunch where six strangers were spellbound by their presence?

And how often have I asked where Sam is now—in London, preparing to direct her Amy Winehouse movie, trekking in Nepal, in the South of France with Elton, or looking for a school in Somerset for her young daughters?

The one thing I can always know is that wherever she is, whatever she is creating, Sam is an extraordinary woman. 

She is brave—as a mother, partner, artist and adventurer.

Most of all, Sam is my friend. And if I cannot always remember the where and when, I can always remember why.

Listen to our memories of children, food, music and art as part of Ruthie's Table 4 artist series.