
Self & the Other
An ongoing self-portrait series combining analogue paper negatives with ancient Roman sculpture to explore identity, performance, and the construction of self.
Contemporary photographic and mixed-media projects exploring presence, memory, landscape, and transformation through analogue, digital, and handmade processes.
Spanning fine art photography, painting, alternative process printing, and moving image, these contemporary art projects investigate the relationship between light, material, and time — where images function not simply as documents, but as traces of experience, perception, and place.

An ongoing self-portrait series combining analogue paper negatives with ancient Roman sculpture to explore identity, performance, and the construction of self.

Using gum bichromate printing and foraged pigments, the project explores the endangered Celtic rainforests of western Scotland as spaces of mythology, memory, perception, and material connection.

Photographed through rain-streaked windscreens and fading light, the work explores atmosphere, memory, and the emotional landscape of East Anglia.

An intimate large-scale portrait exploring dementia and the gradual fragmentation of memory through layered gum bichromate printing.

Photographs exploring the fragile space between beauty and unease, where mist transforms familiar landscapes into places of uncertainty and imagination.

By handing control of the camera to the subject, the work explores self-representation, performance, and the psychology of the selfie.

Inspired by childhood memories of moving from Glasgow to rural Ayrshire, the work explores forests as spaces of mystery, imagination, and emotional memory.

A contemporary still-life project exploring pears through personal ritual, symbolism, mythology, and the quiet poetry of ordinary objects.

Made from leaves collected in the garden, the work reflects on transience, beauty, and the photograph as a delicate physical object.

Blending painting, photography, grisaille, and glaze, the work explores identity, mortality, and the impermanence of human existence.

Extending the Self & The Other series into sculpture, the work explores identity, materiality, and the transformation of photographic self-portrait into physical form.

Using live video feedback and projection, the installation explores repetition, perception, and the endless cycles of human behaviour and suffering.

Using hand-crafted effigies, projection, and sound, the installation explores the fractured space between persona, shadow, and authentic self. The work was later exhibited at the Venice Experimental Video & Performance Art Festival.

I crafted these dynamic, immersive animations in Adobe After Effects, bringing some ideas to life.

Salt printing feels like a return to the very roots of photography. The process is deceptively simple—paper, salt, silver, and sunlight—but the results can be endlessly subtle and expressive. In my teaching, I encourage participants to experiment with toning, negatives, and papers, rediscovering this historic process as a living, creative medium.

I’ve always been drawn to the cyanotype process—not just for its history, but for the way it merges light, chemistry, and chance into something unpredictable. In my London studio, I teach both traditional and experimental cyanotype techniques, from hand-coating papers to toning and layering. Each workshop is about slowing down, exploring, and discovering what this blue process can reveal.

Why Gum Printing Still Matters in the UK / Why Gum Printing Still Matters in the UKBy Ian Phillips-McLaren Gum printing — or gum bichromate — is one of those processes that never quite behaves. It’s slow, messy, unpredictable, and

What fascinates me about gum bichromate printing is its unpredictability. Each layer of pigment and exposure becomes part of a slow, painterly dialogue between chance and control. In my workshops, I guide students through single and multi-layered gum prints—exploring colour, texture, and the blurred boundary between photography and painting.

Foraged Pigments & Site-Specific Materials / Foraged Materials in Image-Making / This page explores how natural materials gathered from the site of the image-making — soil, river water, ash, hay, and more — are integrated into my prints. These foraged

Analogue Film Photography / A lifelong practice in craft, precision, and creative play. Analogue Film Photography / There’s something uniquely powerful about working with film. The slow process, the weight of the camera, the smell of developer in the darkroom

Photographic and mixed-media works created for book covers, album artwork, and editorial projects, shaped through atmosphere, narrative, and emotional tone.