Ian Macdonald

Ian Macdonald’s work is characterised by a deep affection for the people and the landscape of his native Teesside.

While his subjects may, on the surface, seem ‘unattractive’ (industrial plants and processes; workplaces; desolate salt marshes), he brings a lyricism to his work that does not soften the edge of what he has to represent but which invites a step-toward rather than a step-away.

In his photograph of a blast furnace, the mood is calm (note the figures on the right), benign, even gentle; the light is low and soft, despite deriving from a lethal stream of molten metal; diffused by the mist of noxious fumes arising from the casting floor.

Compare this image to the more obviously elemental/ industrial image of a similar scene at Shotton Steelworks by David Hurn.

This meditative quality is evident in Macdonald’s more painterly landscapes too:

The sea is entirely calm; the decay is slow and organic; the sky is low but unthreatening.

His portraits, like his landscapes, are interested, warm, compassionate:

Often, his photographs of people are taken in the context of their work but here too, there is a moment of stillness; of contemplation:

In one sense, Macdonald’s is a narrow palette but he is a photographer who has stood and watched and who has developed a deep understanding of what he sees; born of long acquaintance with his subjects and a deep personal connection with them.

This raises a specific challenge for me in undertaking my Afon Lwyd project; how to avoid a superficial representation of what I see.

I suppose I can avoid distortion through being too ‘arty’ and imposing a pre-determined way of seeing what I will find; or avoiding deliberate misrepresentation through framing or in post-production; by being self-aware in my observation and faithful to my subject; not in a way that could claim to be representing ‘the thing itself’ but, in a way that was sympathetic and which flows from what is there in front of me. But even these devices would be just that and will be no substitute for the depth and warmth of the relationship Macdonald has with the people and places he represents through his work.