Ian Phillips McLaren’s practice combines contemporary and 19th century photographic processes, using a versatility both in camera and print making techniques to achieve his results. From Chinese plastic cameras, large format to pinhole, traditional film negatives, paper negatives, digital negatives and hand-made papers and home made emulsions.

Ian’s latest project utilises projections, audio, performance and video to explore self-portraiture in the context of Jung’s four main archetypes Anima/Animus, Shadow, Persona and Self. By moving his images away from the gallery wall onto the surface of handmade effigies he’s creating multi-sensory video sculptures.

About

Ian Phillips McLaren began photography in 1985, buying a second hand camera to embark on a photography course. He shared studio space in the Glasgow artists’ cooperative, WASPS and his career began.

In 1989 he was the subject of a BBC TV film ’A style of one’s own’ and shortly after became Artist in Residence at the Glasgow School of Art, teaching photography and darkroom techniques. In 1990 he exhibited his art and life in Glasgow as part of the City of Culture. In the early 1990’s McLaren produced his first album cover, followed by a series of portraits for American Vogue.

1992 he moved to London and became best known for portraiture of artists and celebrities including the Spice Girls, Justin Timberlake, Billy Connolly, Lee Evans, Orlando Bloom and many others.

Ian is a four times nominee and recipient of an honourable mention in the International Photography Awards.

‘In the Mist’ 2016, marked the beginning of new work, in Hatfield Forest followed by still life studies. Working and experimenting with alternative and early print processes, Ian spent seven months refining and bettering the gum bichromates to form the grid of Gwen ‘Did I Want To Be Here?’

His client portfolio included EMI, Polydor, Pixi Make-up, Topshop, BBC, Bank of New York, Barclays Bank, Slaughter & May, Vidal Sassoon, M&S and magazines GQ, Arena, Sunday Times Magazine, Smash hits, Top of the Pops and Q Magazine. He has been featured in several media interviews including Kirsty Young’s programme for BBC 5 live.

“Walking through forests and mists instilled a sense of apprehension in me. I always felt a presence of something bigger and greater than me and that I’m not alone. I’ve tried to capture and project the essence of these feelings into my prints and am fascinated by others’ reaction to them – do they find them sinister, ethereal, magical or calming? My still life work is all about texture, simplicity and the transience of life that begins and ends in beauty of some form.”