WE ARE ONE PEOPLE, ONE SOUL, 2022-202423 Images
Little Simz is in the middle of a mega month. Today (June 12), she kicks off her own edition of the Southbank Centre’s Meltdown festival, following in the footsteps of previous curators Massive Attack and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. She also released her sixth studio album, Lotus, last week.
Taking inspiration from the lotus flower, which Simz has described as the only plant to bloom in muddy waters, the project centres around the former Dazed cover star’s attempts to rise above recent conflicts in the music industry. Sonically, it’s a key development in her artistry, honing in on elements of jazz, funk and soul – with nary a sequenced drum pattern in sight – but photographer Karolina Wielocha (who accompanied Simz on tours and live shows between 2022 and 2024), reminds us that Simz’ ability to draw people together through music has been present her entire career.
“What’s always drawn me to live music is that collective movement, a room of strangers singing the same lyrics and feeling them deeply,” Wielocha explains. “With Simz, that connection hits differently. Watching the crowd leave at the end, you could actually feel them floating a few millimetres off the ground. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been in it.” Still, Wielocha’s collection of photos from this period on tour — titled WE ARE ONE PEOPLE, ONE SOUL — with Simz comes as close as you can virtually get.
Poland-born and now London-based, Wielocha’s photography career is firmly intertwined with the queen of UK rap. “The first time I came across her was through Welcome to Wonderland [2018 show] at the Roundhouse. It was the first event I ever got a photo pass for after moving to London,” Wielocha reminisces. “What drew me in wasn’t just the music, it was the storytelling. I’ve always loved stories, and Simz tells them in a way that cuts through. She creates entire worlds, but somehow they always feel familiar, like home.”
But it wasn’t until Wielocha was commissioned to photograph Nigerian musician Obongjayar’s performance at KOKO in London – at which Simz made a surprise appearance – that the two came into contact. After the show, Wielocha posted a picture of Simz online and, before she knew it, she was invited to document her European tour, sparking a creative collaboration that would lead to Wielocha shooting the covers to Simz’ previous album No Thank You as well as her self-published journal the *book.
Taken at countless concerts over the following years, Wielocha’s photographs capture the delicate in-between moments during and after Simz’ performances. Shots of the “Point and Kill” rapper performing to a sea of fans holding up ‘Free Palestine’ placards at Glastonbury 2024 are juxtaposed with another shot of Simz embracing her mother backstage, taken just moments later. “[It’s] a beautiful, tender moment,” Wielocha says of the latter. “What struck me is how, even as adults, we still hold this deep desire to make our parents proud. That photo is a quiet celebration of that feeling.”
At its core, however, Wielocha’s images emphasise the profound personal connection that audience members have with Simz’ live shows – couples clasping hands, others diving deep into their own personal worlds, submerging themselves in the rapper’s cinematic approach to live performance.
It’s from this collective outpouring of emotion that the photo series derives its name. “During the NO THANK YOU tour, Simz would often say [“We are one people, one soul”] between songs and it just stuck with me, it felt like the perfect way to describe what was happening both on and off the stage,” says Wielocha. “The title speaks to that shared energy. We’re all different, with our own lives and stories, but for that brief time, we’re part of something bigger.”
These values stuck with Wielocha long after the tours came to an end, reaffirming the feeling that she had first felt seeing Simz perform at the Roundhouse back in 2018. “Sometimes it’s like listening to someone narrate your own thoughts; other times, it’s like sitting with a story you didn’t know you needed to hear. I think that’s why her audience is so broad and beautifully mixed – she speaks to people in ways that feel deeply personal, yet universal,” reflects Wielocha. “The experience reminded me that when we move together, with purpose, we’re capable of something really powerful.” We’re one people, one soul, after all.
Check the gallery above for a closer look at Wielocha’s touching images from her time on the road with Little Simz.
