This London-based photographer captures the complexity of human interaction in cities around the world

Isabel Fernandez PujolMar 12, 2022, 04:32 IST

"Biggy".John MacLean

Cities can be displacing. It seems the more people there are, the more one feels alone. Yet our human nature calls for companionship; we crave acceptance and are in a constant search for the feeling of belonging.

Photographer John MacLean has been capturing the discomforts of individuality within busy city life for his series titled, "City".

MacLean became disenchanted with photography after a few years of studying it and only returned to it after the arrival of the digital camera. Photography seems to be one of those mediums artists drop and pick up again in a game of love and hate. Like photographers with their medium, cities can be similarly loved and hated by their inhabitants — something this series seems to hint at.

There is beauty in the flaws of a city. MacLean's photographic style represented through the distance of the subject is a persuasion to look deeper at the individual mysteries within the giant sphere of a bustling cityscape.

"Turk".John MacLean

There is beauty in the flaws of a city. MacLean's photographic style represented through the distance of the subject is a persuasion to look deeper at the individual mysteries within the giant sphere of a bustling cityscape.

Through his camera, MacLean seems to avoid getting personal with his subjects – in fact most images do not show a face or closeness. Instead there is a distance and ambivalence to the city landscape. He captures the individual that is displaced, whether in a crowd or in a pocket between skyscrapers.

"Bird".John MacLean

Through his camera, MacLean seems to avoid getting personal with his subjects – in fact most images do not show a face or closeness. Instead there is a distance and ambivalence to the city landscape. He captures the individual that is displaced, whether in a crowd or in a pocket between skyscrapers.

He describes his photographic style within the series as an "act of seduction; I try to make pictures which entice the viewer to stop and think."

"Long".John MacLean

"Deciphering a photograph is a process which requires image-decompression. We reimagine a scene from the flattened perspective and depleted information supplied," MacLean says.

"Victory".John MacLean

"Deciphering a photograph is a process which requires image-decompression. We reimagine a scene from the flattened perspective and depleted information supplied," MacLean says.

“Photography can be used to bring people together, but it can also estrange us from each other and ourselves—just like a city can. The photographs in this series are intended to highlight this paradox."

"Roosevelt".John MacLean

“Photography can be used to bring people together, but it can also estrange us from each other and ourselves—just like a city can. The photographs in this series are intended to highlight this paradox."

MacLean scours the cityscape for what he calls "unfixed pictures" — ephemeral moments of light passing through openings and gaps, as well as reflecting off surfaces and creating harsh silhouettes and abstract forms.

"Brandt".John MacLean

MacLean scours the cityscape for what he calls "unfixed pictures" — ephemeral moments of light passing through openings and gaps, as well as reflecting off surfaces and creating harsh silhouettes and abstract forms.

"In [this] photograph, sunlight 'draws' a curiously three-dimensional image on a piece of discarded cardboard: a picture within a picture."

"Fargo".John MacLean

Cities can be loud. But there are quiet moments where everything stops, and the light seems to shine just the right way or the shadows between buildings seem to create voids of wonder.

"Gold Coast".John MacLean

Cities can be loud. But there are quiet moments where everything stops, and the light seems to shine just the right way or the shadows between buildings seem to create voids of wonder.

This series is an invitation to slow down within our busy lives. To not vainly tap, click, or press, but to understand the little moments of individuality that happen all around us everyday, especially in a city.

"Toland".John MacLean

This series is an invitation to slow down within our busy lives. To not vainly tap, click, or press, but to understand the little moments of individuality that happen all around us everyday, especially in a city.

"My photograph 'Biggy' draws attention to photography's surface-depth duality. It was made in Los Angeles which is a city with a reputation for fakery, façades and personas—a city whose inhabitants live a 'screened existence'."

"Biggy".John MacLean

"My photograph 'Biggy' draws attention to photography's surface-depth duality. It was made in Los Angeles which is a city with a reputation for fakery, façades and personas—a city whose inhabitants live a 'screened existence'."

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This London-based photographer captures the complexity of human interaction in cities around the world

There is beauty in the flaws of a city. MacLean's photographic style represented through the distance of the subject is a persuasion to look deeper at the individual mysteries within the giant sphere of a bustling cityscape.

He describes his photographic style within the series as an "act of seduction; I try to make pictures which entice the viewer to stop and think."

"Deciphering a photograph is a process which requires image-decompression. We reimagine a scene from the flattened perspective and depleted information supplied," MacLean says.

“Photography can be used to bring people together, but it can also estrange us from each other and ourselves—just like a city can. The photographs in this series are intended to highlight this paradox."

MacLean scours the cityscape for what he calls "unfixed pictures" — ephemeral moments of light passing through openings and gaps, as well as reflecting off surfaces and creating harsh silhouettes and abstract forms.

"In [this] photograph, sunlight 'draws' a curiously three-dimensional image on a piece of discarded cardboard: a picture within a picture."

Cities can be loud. But there are quiet moments where everything stops, and the light seems to shine just the right way or the shadows between buildings seem to create voids of wonder.

This series is an invitation to slow down within our busy lives. To not vainly tap, click, or press, but to understand the little moments of individuality that happen all around us everyday, especially in a city.

"My photograph 'Biggy' draws attention to photography's surface-depth duality. It was made in Los Angeles which is a city with a reputation for fakery, façades and personas—a city whose inhabitants live a 'screened existence'."