In this iconic portrait. The singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran sat for Phillip over two months. The artist has been friends with Ed Sheeran for a while and has watched him gig around venues since his college days. Phillip told me how he wanted to show the emerging singer finally coming out of the darkness which represents the dark clubs and venues that the singer would go to and perform on his steady rise.

We are immediately confronted with the singers face in this hauntingly beautiful, coming of age portrait. I find it rather interesting how the artist has made no reference to the singers background whose known for also carrying and playing guitar. Rather Phillip has introduced a stillness and silence amongst the chaos of the music industry on a whole.

I like how the artist has skillfully captured the unassuming shy grin, the suggestion of the unknown and the unsure, almost uncomfortable young adult looking back at us. This as Phillip explained to me is how he see’s the singer who seems quite shy an at times uncomfortable in coping with his new found success and being in the public eye. Ed Sheeran seems to be momentarily glancing at us but sharing his experience with us at the same time.