Arch McLeish Finds Beauty In Barren Landscapes

McLeish’s images are grounded in reality, but simultaneously lifted from it. Cast in a consistent veil of pastel colors, the scenes are almost entirely devoid of human life; though not of human presence. Mostly shot at sunrise and sunset, McLeish’s saccharine aesthetic is offset by the things that sit in the foreground of his scenes: street signs at odd angles, overflowing plastic bags, building sites, motels, and apartment blocks. “I am interested in presenting the human world as it is in reality, using photography to capture and romanticize the broken and mundane”, McLeish explains to IGNANT. “Capturing people at work or play in the spaces I photograph is not a key driver of my work but the people who make and use the spaces and objects are always at the forefront of my mind, “ he explains, “what might they see across the course of their day, and what small moments would make them happy?”