Sometimes we all need to switch off.

How do you take time out? Soul-jazz singer Ego Ella May flops on the sofa with a book. Genre-twisting indie musician Dan D’Lion kicks back in the tub.

Photographer Will Douglas captures five of today’s most exciting breakthrough artists for Reebok, showing how they work – and how they chill. Fresh and airy as specified by the client, Will’s pictures are infused with the unique personality of each artist, who he captured mid-flow, spitting lyrics or strumming guitar.

There’s a poetic, playful approach running though the art direction of the ‘calm’ images – balloons represent rapper Barney Artist’s head space, while Dan lounges in an empty bath, donning his Club Cs, surrounded by retro tech. Produced in autumn 2020, between lockdowns, the project has fond memories for Will – it didn’t feel like a job, he insists, more like time out, a taste of why these young artists are poised for greatness.

“Everyone was sad when the shoot was done. We’d spent six days with amazing talent, listening to their music, really understanding why they speak to people. It didn’t feel like a job.”

Will Douglas

Client: Reebok
Agency: Tangent
Senior Account Manager: Lucy Barber
Creative Lead: Zander Gregson
Designer: Urvashi KandaShoot Team
Photographer: Will Douglas
1st Assistant: Isaac Dann
Digi Tech: Mike Hani
Producer: Gloria Bowman
Production Manager: Islay Leefe-Griffiths
Production Assistant: Hannah Jackson
Studio: JJ

Talent: Ego Ella May, Awa, Dan D’Lion, Oscar Jerome, Barney Artist