BIO
Photo by Jean du Preez
I'm a visual artist, photographer, filmmaker, writer and lecturer, currently based in South Africa. I'm motivated to produce work that blends storytelling elements from my documentary photojournalist background with an abstract artistic nature that seeks to explore the unconscious.
I have worked as freelance photojournalist in Tbilisi, Georgia where I covered stories in the greater Caucuses region and in several post-Soviet states, including Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
I was awarded a Chevening Scholarship and hold a MA in Photography: The Image & The Electronic Arts with distinction from Goldsmiths, University of London. Here I learned to extend my photography practice into the spheres of filmmaking, animation, analogue photography, portraiture and mixed media art.
My photographs have been published in BBC News, VICE, GQ, Men’s Health, OZY and Huck Magazine, as well as in media outlets in Italy, the Netherlands, China, Portugal and Russia.
My photographic projects have been exhibited at the Somerset House Gallery in London and Casa Saraceni Gallery in Bologna, Italy as part of the Syngenta Photography Award. My work has also been shown in galleries in Rome, Dubai, Oxford, Cape Town, Kathmandu, Odessa, Suwon, Stellenbosch and Tbilisi.
I have worked for the United Nations Development Programme Ukraine – covering conflict-affected communities in the eastern Ukraine – and for a variety of NGOs in South Africa, Madagascar, Swaziland, India, Georgia and Ukraine, including UNDP Georgia, Operation Smile and Save the Children.
I've produced several acclaimed short films, music videos, a television commercial and a photobook..
My personal work is largely driven by analogue techniques of image-making, including 19th century printing methods, hand-drawn animation and film photography.
I'm especially interested in the analogue photographic process and alternative printing methods as a means of disrupting the passive manner of consuming digital imagery.
If you'd like to get in touch for commissions, assignments or collaborations, you're in luck because I have been saving all my best photographs for you.
Email me at ianmcnaughtd@gmail.com and let's work together.
Editorial publications
VICE
BBC News
OZY
GQ
HUCK Magazine
Men’s Health
The New Humanitarian
Chai Khana
Elsevier Juist (Netherlands)
P3 (Portugal)
Lenta (Russia)
Getaway Magazine
Go! Magazine
Life Force Magazine
Internazionale (Italy)
Sunday Independent
Between 10 and 5
TheDifferent.tv
Edge Of Humanity Magazine
The Superbalist
Daily Nation
Exhibitions
In Borrowed Carbon
Glen Carlou Gallery
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Solo exhibition
2023
Cyanima
Glen Carlou Gallery
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Group exhibition
2022
Dreams In Blue
Dubai World Expo 2020
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Group exhibition
2021
KATABASIS
Bloomsbury Festival
London, UK
Short film premiere
2021
Stampin' In The Graveyard Knaive Theatre: Digital Lyceum, London
Group exhibition
2020
Pixelscape
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Group exhibition
2020
Music x Art: Goodensemble Bloomsbury Festival
London
Group exhibition
2020
Between The Soil And The Sky William Goodenough House
London
Solo exhibition
2019
One Shot
Kolga Photo Week,
Tbilisi, Georgia
Group exhibition
2018
I.N.C.L.U.S.I.ON
Tbilisi Photo Festival
Tbilisi, Georgia
Group exhibition
2018
Grand Opening
Fotografia Gallery
Tbilisi, Georgia
Group exhibition
2017
Grow/Conserve
Casa Saraceni Gallery
Bologna, Italy
Group exhibition
2017
Manhood For Amateurs
Grey Area Gallery
Cape Town, South Africa
Solo exhibition
2016
THROUGH THE SURFACE
Barrydale Analogue Photo Festival
Barrydale, South Africa
Solo exhibition
2022
Spring Exhibition
Glen Carlou Gallery
Stellenbosch, South Africa
Group exhibition
2022
VICE UK Graduate exhibition Photo Book Cafe
London
Group exhibition
2021
AFTERTHOUGHT
Barrydale Analogue Photo Festival
Barrydale, South Africa
Solo exhibition and book launch
2021
RE/MEMORY
Oxford University
Oxford, UK
Group exhibition
2021
Dreams in Blue
William Goodenough House
London
Solo exhibition
2020
Romantic Remnants
Bloomsbury Festival
London
Group exhibition
2019
Full English Breakfast
Goldsmiths Film Festival
London
Short film premiere
2018
The Battlegrounds of Ukraine Suwon Photo Festival, Suwon,
South Korea
Group exhibition
2018
Men Between Mountains Suwon Photo Festival, Suwon,
South Korea
Group exhibition
2018
The Street Experience
Gallery Millepiani
Rome
Group exhibition
2017
Grow/Conserve
Somerset House
London
Group exhibition
2017
Moving Asia
Photo Kathmandu Photography Festiva, Kathmandu, Nepal
Group exhibition
2016
NGO Clients
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UNDP Ukraine
Photographed and interviewed women living in the conflict zone of Eastern Ukraine.
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UNDP Georgia
Selected as a photographer for UNDP Georgia's roster of content producers.
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Save The Children
Worked on a long-term photographic project about people living with disabilities in Georgia.
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Operation Smile
Documented the many stages of children undergoing cleft palate surgery on medical missions in Madagascar, South Africa and eSwatini.
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Reach For A Dream Foundation
Photographed outings for South Africa's premier charity for children with life threatening illnesses.
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Saraswathi Education Centre
Took portraits of school children receiving free education and food in Varanasi, India.
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Gu Chu Sum Institute
Interviewed and photographed former political prisoners fleeing Tibet and finding refuge in Dharamsala, India.
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Elva
Collaborated with Elva, a data-driven humanitarian consultancy, while working on the ground in eastern Ukraine.
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The Learning Initiative
Produced images for press and annual reports for a NPO centred on childhood development in South Africa.
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WeCode24
Photographed workshops for a coding initiative for underserved South African learners.
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CENN
Provided photographs of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) campaigns across Georgia.