Wabi

Ian Kirby is a London-based, portrait and landscape photographer. Born to mixed Japanese and English heritage, Ian draws significant influence from an eclectic upbringing rooted deeply in two distinct cultures and within a richly multicultural environment. This unique blend of backgrounds has equipped him with an ability to appreciate the intricate details and subtleties present in both the environments he inhabits and the personalities he encounters.

With years of experience in the professional world of photography and some fascinating award-winning projects, the latest exhibition presented at Heckmann Design Studio Gallery is a collection of landscape studies, on which Ian worked on for the past four years. Technically complex to master, the work for this exhibition is deeply poignant. Each piece captures a moment in time—emotion, movement, and the transient nature of experience, are suspended within the frame.

The chosen title for this exhibition – ‘Wabi’ is a reminiscent of Kirby’s evocative landscapes. Not intended to be attractions on the map, these arbitrary places, encountered by the author on his travels, are often unassuming. The artist looks beyond this and through his own lens sees the beauty that is possible, the beauty that is visible to him, the beauty “in between”. The echoes of his thoughts and meditations in those fleeting moments are captured in the image- a second later- and the entire composition would not be possible in its form. The final images resonate with the ancient Japanese philosophy of Wabi, where beauty found in imperfection, simplicity and quietness; where light and shadows play a crucial role in our existence.

“I try to imprint in my images some trace of my own journey to discover the beauty I see, perhaps slightly removed from the literal before me.”
Ian Kirby

The installation was a reaction to Ian Kirby's words, on self reflection in his work. Anna Saroukhanova, our in house curator, has taken the interpretation further, and suggested to reflect Ian's artwork in the mirror. What we see reflecting back at us, and becoming part of us, like in a continues circle of emotions, and interaction between us, and the environment around us – merging with our thoughts and ever changing, rippled by the state of mind in that fraction of time?

Installation duration: 10th of July – 7th of November 2025.