LONDON.- Chloe Sells worked as a personal assistant for American writer and journalist Hunter S. Thompson from 2003 until his death in 2005. This new book combines Sells’ photographs of Hunter’s home—documenting the interior, his possessions and handwritten notes—with landscape of Aspen, Colorado, and her recollections of her time spent working with him. Some of Sells’ hand-printed photographs have been overlaid with traditional marbling techniques, to create a psychedelic ride through the home of one of the most brilliant writers of our time.

'Officially, I was a personal assistant. Unofficially, I did anything and everything that needed doing. One night, Hunter beckoned me to his chair in the kitchen and said, ‘So, you say you’re a photographer. Well, Taschen is doing a book of my photographs,’ followed by a mocking ‘Ha, Ha.’ I didn’t mind; Hunter was Hunter. A moment later his face changed, and, looking sheepish and sorry for bullying his young assistant, he began to explain that almost his whole life had been documented—except for his home—the ramshackle, remarkable creative heartland that was Owl Farm. It needed to be visually archived, he said to me, and it was mine to photograph if I liked.’ - Chloe Sells

Hunter S. Thompson, a counter-culture icon, was an American journalist and writer, best known for his book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) and for creating ‘Gonzo Journalism.’ Alongside his distinctive and original voice, he was also known for his love of firearms, contempt for authority and lifelong use of alcohol and illegal narcotics. It is fitting that Sells’ hallucinatory manipulations of her photographs lift a straightforward visual documentary project into something more representative of Thompson and his vision.

Sells has always photographed with film and prints her work by hand in the darkroom. Her previous work has melded darkroom alchemy and handmade manipulations of her current home in Botswana. This new series has incorporated swirling abstract patterns directly onto the prints—using a form of Suminagashi, or floating ink, a Japanese paper marbling technique. The unique and capricious visual results echo the unpredictable life and mind of Hunter S. Thompson and they represent a place so dear to him.

‘My main luxury in those years—a necessary luxury, in fact—was the ability to work in and out of my home-base fortress in Woody Creek. It was a very important psychic anchor for me, a crucial grounding point where I always knew I had love, friends. & good neighbors. It was like my personal Lighthouse that I would see from anywhere in the world—no matter where I was, or how weird & crazy & dangerous it got, everything would be okay if I could just make it home. When I made that hairpin turn up the hill onto Woody Creek Road, I knew I was safe.’ -Hunter S. Thompson, Woody Creek, Colorado, August 20, 2000 from the Author’s note to Fear and Loathing in America.

The publication of HOT DAMN! coincides with an exhibition of the work, I’ll be coming back as lighting at Galerie Miranda, Paris until 15 January 2022.

Chloe Sells was born in Aspen, Colorado and began photographing in 1993. She attended the Rhode Island School of Design and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography. She completed her Masters in Fine Art from Central St. Martins London. Her work has been exhibited internationally in multiple solo and group exhibitions. She has published two books, SWAMP (2016) and Flamingo (2017), both published by GOST Books. She currently lives between her darkroom in London and her home in Maun, Botswana.