Instagram Takeover: Steve Macleod

We welcome Metro Creative Director and award-winning photographer, Steve Macleod, as our next guest editor for our Instagram account, March 2018.

Follow us on Instagram instagram.com/photoworks_uk

An award winning Creative Director; photographer and Master Printer based in London, Steve Macleod has been at the forefront of photographic imaging for over twenty-five years, collaborating with a vast network of clients and developing new and innovative photographic printing practices. Combining his polymath career, he is has a comprehensive network of industry partners and is the go-to person in London and abroad.

Hi, @stevemac65 with my third post today of my #photoworks_uk takeover. . This is the view I had of the image I posted this morning. I spent several hours taking in this view on the Al Hajar mountains, to the extent that I nearly forgot to pull the dark slide cover for exposure! This body of work titled Hala is an uplifting expression of my mental wellbeing, the mountains are addictive and awe inspiring. . This is my sturdy 4×5 MPP MKVII for anyone interested in cameras. It is my favourite format as the process slows the pace down and gives me time to contemplate composition before I adjust the movements and disappear under the cloth. #stevemacleod #largeformat #analogue #uae #mountains #light #emirates #landscape #landscapephotography #wellbeing #therapy #mentalhealth

A post shared by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Mar 29, 2018 at 9:37am PDT

Hala, 2015-2017 Hi @stevemac65 with my #photoworks_uk takeover day four. . These images are from my series Hala (Aura in Arabic) which will be debuted at this year’s @photolondonfair with my gallery @blackboxprojects . I worked in the UAE Al Hajar mountains for a period of time. This wilderness on the Eastern Arabian peninsula that is partly off-limits and challenging to negotiate, however it has an addictive and overwhelming aura about it. Using large format 4×5” I stripped back my practice to experience a sense of place, a search for nothingness that counters topographical ‘straight’ photography. The colour here is unrealistic, however all captured and manipulated in camera and reflective of my state of mind and wellness – if you see me at PL I’ll explain how. . @photolondonfair Is on at Somerset House May 17-22nd and I’ll be in the Discovery Section. #photography #stevemacleod #takeover #instagram #uae #Dubai #oman #abudhabi #largeformat #4×5 #film

A post shared by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Mar 29, 2018 at 12:20am PDT

He is a practicing artist, represented exclusively by Black Box in the UK. He regularly exhibits and his works are held in both private and public institutions. His landscape practice operates in a zone that discards the modernist approach to ‘scientific’ realist interpretation; where one experiences environmental aura rather than a template for topographically recording nature.

Steve is a Visiting Professor in Photography at University of Suffolk and sits on several creative industry boards, including a Trusteeship of the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST); the Patrons Board of the National Portrait Galleryand Advisory Board for NOA.
He runs an established mentorship scheme and sits on review panels for international competitions; artists’ platforms and art fairs.

Hi, @stevemac65 with my final b&w vibe for the day. . I once tried to give up on photography and pretty much everything else too. I had worked my way into an exhausted depression and went back to Caithness to get out. I didn’t pick up a camera for six months until I went out walking and saw these birch trees. . I went back with the camera determined to get it on film. It’s a simple boring photograph, but there was something enchanting about the trees rising out of the peat bog. I realised then that whatever is put down on film is testament to who we are, where we have been and offers an insight to what could be. . This image probably saved me and in a way it’s from an archive that introduces a conversation between the present and the past. #photoworks_uk #stevemacleod #therapy #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #nature #trees #print #blackandwhite

A post shared by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Mar 28, 2018 at 9:25am PDT

Hi @stevemac65 here continuing with my takeover. . It took me a while to realise the influence that my mental health had on my photography and vice versa (slow learner). . In 2016 I created this body of work that explored my transition to long term use of the stabilising drug, Lithium. I was fighting taking any drugs or treatment at a time when I was less able to make a considered judgment. My psychiatrist suggested I go out into nature with my camera to contemplate my life before and potentially after taking Lithium. . I went on to produce this work Li+ and can say that the medication has transformed my bipolar condition and mental health awerness. Yes things are bit more boring now but I can see that my relationship with landscape and photography remains the same, if seen with a slightly different focus. #photoworks_uk #stevemacleod #takeover #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #therapy #landscape #largeformat #itsgoodtotalk #trees #nature

A post shared by Photoworks (@photoworks_uk) on Mar 27, 2018 at 9:14am PDT

He is a Director at Metro Imaging in London. The company is one of Europe’s leading imaging companies offering a comprehensive solution for fine-art photographic exhibition and collecting markets; with a global reach working with individuals; commercial galleries and public institutions.

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For more of Steve’s work, click here.

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