Painters’ Tools is a paperback photobook that explores the hidden labour of creativity through an intimate study of artists and the tools they use. It is a typological series of close-up images of the objects of making – brushes, chisels, pigments, palettes etc. The work highlights the quiet beauty of everyday materials and the often-overlooked relationship between maker and tool.

Across 200 pages, the book reflects on the intimacy of studio practice, revealing how tools become extensions of the artist’s hand. At the back of the book you will find a small essay about the project by Sarah Larby and portraits to showcase the artists involved in the project.

Sarah Larby (b.1998, Northumberland) is a visual artist and fine art photographer based in London. With a background in painting and sculpture, she completed her BA in Fine Art at the University of Leeds in 2020, studied classical sculpture at the Akademia Stuck Pieknych in Warsaw, and received her MA in Commercial Photography from the London College of Communication, UAL, in 2024.

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