Giving the everyday lives of small towns in England and the middle class the gentle poetry of a love song or a melancholic drama, this is what the photographic work of Ian Howorth offers.
A documentary photographer living in Brighton and of Peruvian descent on his mother's side, he composes his work with this perspective situated between two cultures. His books, from Arcadia published in 2019 to A Country Kind of Silence in 2023, convey the solitary and silent melancholy of an engaged observer.
The artist presents his own work as addressing themes of identity and culture. At first glance, however, a feeling of intimacy emanates from his photographs, the intimacy of recognition, of a place one could so easily consider one's own: a car seat, a newspaper placed on the benches of a laundromat, a corner of a bathtub with vibrant colors…
Everything, however, seems slightly withdrawn. The camera lens positions itself as a silent observer, compelling us to adopt the same role. Light and color are cleverly used to enhance the narrative of the images. In Arcadia, the blue of an exterior corridor or the flashy neon lights of a bingo hall offer the hope of somewhere else, while the pink silhouette of a sail on the beach accentuates the solitary presence of a resident. In A Country Kind of Silence, ravaged phone booths are transformed into a glowing red forest. Images that seem to tell us intimate and personal fragments of history.
PEOPLE
“I don’t think portraiture is generally associated with my work, but it’s a theme that has always interested me. For me, it’s always a subject I draw inspiration from, and I use it as a testing ground to see how well I can capture someone’s essence. The more you do this, the more you realize how much color, light, and other technical aspects affect the overall impression the image gives.”
When I first started doing portraiture, I wasn't really sure what I was doing—my eye was more drawn to the overall scene than the subject alone—; I experimented with different lighting techniques, but also with directing people. I'm by no means an expert, but in my experience, portraiture is much more than just creating images: there's a responsibility to the subject, and you have to communicate the result to them. Photography is never reality, but it can give the impression that it is, so it's important, as a photographer, to be respectful of that. – Ian Howorth
ARCADIA BOOK BY IAN HOWORTH
SETANTA BOOKS PUBLISHING, 2023
IHOWORTH.COM
@IHOWORTH
