John MacLean

Photographer

I am an experimental photographer based in London. My diptychs, montages, biographical landscapes, uncanny interiors and urban tableau are carefully constructed, playfully serious pictures which persuade the viewer to pause for thought. Since 2008, I have used digital photography to engage with subjects that fascinate me: online culture, the psychology of seeing, the evolving nature of being human—but above all—photography itself. My intention is never simply to record what I encounter. My art is one of subtle persuasion: a quiet revolution that demonstrates how photography can help us better understand how we perceive the world—and ourselves within it. ‘As a medium, photography has its strengths—but also its linguistic limitations. Audiences are bombarded with images every day—we get used to absorbing rather than reading photographs, forgetting that they form a culturally encoded, often politically charged, language. MacLean’s work aims to jolt us out of this complacency.’ Camilla Brown, Former Senior Curator: The Photographers’ Gallery, London.