Ishaaq Ali – Fine Art Photography – School of Fine Art

Ishaaq Ali (b. 2001) is a photographer based in Glasgow. Informed by his mixed-race identity, Ishaaq explores diaspora, migration and the surreality of everyday life within working-class communities centering particularly on his home of Govanhill. Moving beyond traditional documentary photography, Ishaaq employs a subjective post-documentary approach to construct atmospheric psychological geographies of place. Focusing on fleeting in-between moments and the repetition of imagery he explores how time slowly layers itself upon the physical environment. Treating architecture, shifting light and intimate portraiture with equal narrative gravity, he maps the cultural tensions and vibrant realities of the modern urban landscape.

Encounters in the Third Space is the physical realisation of my shift toward a post-documentary photographic practice. Wandering the streets of Govanhill the project maps the psychological geography of the area through a highly subjective lens. Seeking out quiet in-between moments I use the visual repetition of place to examine the lingering texture of time. Democratically mixing subjects I treat the architecture, urban debris and shifting light as carrying the exact same emotional weight as the people who inhabit the space. In this series a weathered tenement wall or a quiet street corner holds the same narrative gravity as an intimate portrait of a local resident. Fragmented yet harmonious, this body of work acts as a lyrical and cinematic testament to the resilience, tension and vibrant reality of my community.