Seeing Against The Grain (Ishmael Claxton)

His practice is shaped by a mix of mathematics, art history, costume design, and creative installation, giving his image making a curious, layered edge.

Photography is Ishmael’s main tool for thinking through identity, migration, power, and belonging. His work moves between documentary and staged moments, blending the real and the imagined to reflect the instability of contemporary life. Influenced by surrealism, pop art, futurism, and Afro futurist imaginaries, his images are bold, colourful, and charged with symbolic weight.

His work has been exhibited widely across Ireland and internationally, including PhotoMuseum Ireland, the RHA, the Hunt Museum, and the National Concert Hall.