About Ian Leake

Some artists have missions. I have questions. My projects often begin with a question or an observation that I cannot leave alone. I make photographs to explore it. My most interesting projects rarely take me where I expected, yet wherever they take me, I find myself returning to beauty, simplicity and truth.

I make photographs on film and glass plates, printing each one by hand in my darkroom. With my old camera, nothing happens quickly. I take time to find the composition that feels right, then bring the same care to perfecting the print in the darkroom. This way of working helps me concentrate on what first drew me to the subject.

I have made my photographs with platinum for more than twenty years. Platinum printing has become both my artistic medium and a field of specialist expertise. I am the author of The Platinum Printing Workshop, now in its third edition, and I design light-measuring instruments used by photographers, professional print studios and art schools around the world. This work has made me well known within the global historic photographic process community.

Today, I make platinum prints in limited editions of five or eight. My photographs have been exhibited and published internationally and are held in private collections around the world.

I sell my work directly from my studio because I value the personal relationship between artist and collector. I welcome questions about individual photographs, the printing process or acquiring a print. Private studio viewings can be arranged by appointment.

When I sign a print, I am making three promises: that it represents my best work; that I have used fine materials and archival processes; and that I made and inspected it myself before allowing it to leave my studio.

I live and work in Basel, Switzerland.

Exhibitions

2025 – Group Exhibition "Au Naturel" – Galerie NUMAS IGRA, Basel, Switzerland

2024 – Open Studio Weekend – Basel, Switzerland

2023 – Open Studio Weekend – Basel, Switzerland

2016 – Rendering the Spirit – Glen Echo Park, Washington DC, USA

2013 – Chiswick Artists at Home – London, UK

2010 – FADU Group Exhibition – Wellingborough, UK

2008 – Solo exhibition of platinum prints – Silverprint, London, UK

Lectures

2026 – Royal Photographic Society (RPS) Swiss Chapter – Platinum Prints

2018 – Ealing & Hampshire House Photographic Society – Photographs in Platinum

Articles and Publications

2016 – Scott Davies (photographer, educator, curator) – Rendering the Spirit (interview)

2012 – View Camera Magazine – Cover and Interview

2010 – Camera Obscura – Katie's Jump (article and photographs)

2009 – The Guardian Newspaper – The Naked Truth About Life Models (interview and photograph)

2009 – Black & White Photography Magazine – Lifting the Mask (cover and interview)

2008 – Silvershotz: The International Journal of Fine Art Photography – Folio

2008 – Galerie Photo – Nude in Platinum Palladium (interview)

Books

2026 – Beauty, Simplicity and Truth: A Personal Reflection

2026 – A Simple Model for a Creative Life

2017 – The Platinum Printing Workshop, Third Edition As of 2026, the book remains in the top 100 of Amazon’s Darkroom & Processing Techniques category

2015 – The Platinum Printing Workshop, Second Edition

2010 – The Platinum Printing Workshop, First Edition