Portrait Photographer London About

Education: MA Fine Art, Cambridge School of Art, Cambridge.
Ian was born and brought up in Glasgow, Scotland – he is known for his natural, no-gimmicks style, his images are authentic, honest and strikingly expressive.

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 Ian 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 to students. In 1990 he exhibited his art and life in Glasgow as part of the City of Culture programme.
In the early 1990’s he produced his first album cover, followed by a series of portraits for American Vogue.

1992  Ian 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.
His client portfolio includes 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.