Ian Willms
Boreal Collective
Toronto, ON, Canada
Ian Willms’ photography has explored relationships between migration, identity, culture and environment in Canada, The United States and Europe. His latest work follows the recent increase of asylum seekers migrating illegally from the U.S to Canada.
Ian has photographed his intimately personal experience of trauma and grief, after losing his father to a motorcycle accident. Other longterm projects include As Long as the Sun Shines, about the human and ecological impacts of Canada’s Oil Sands industry and Why We Walk, about the centuries-long pacifist legacy of the Russian Mennonites. These projects have been published by Time Magazine, The New York Times and The International New York Times and exhibited at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego, Half King in New York, the CONTACT Photography Festival in Toronto and the Photoville festival in Brooklyn, respectively.
Based in Toronto, Ian is a founding member of Boreal Collective and is represented commercially by NAMARA. For a decade he has carried out freelance assignments globally, for some of the world’s finest editorial publications. Ian holds an Honours Diploma in Photojournalism and is an alumni of the Reportage by Getty Images Emerging Talent mentorship.
His longterm works have been supported by a Canada Council for the Arts grant, two Ontario Arts Council grants, the CONTACT Photography Festival Exhibition Award, three Magenta Foundation awards, a Pictures of the Year International award and a National Magazine Award, among others.
2017 - Ontario Arts Council, 2017 - World Press Photo Masterclass, 2016 - Ontario Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts, 2015 - Magenta Flash Forward, 2014 - Int'l Photography Awards, 2014 - FotoVisura Photography Grant, 2013 - CONTACT Photography Festival Portfolio Award, 2013 - Canada Council for the Arts, 2013 - Pictures of the Year International, 2012 - National Magazine Awards, 2010 - Magnum Expression Photography Award
- Architecture
- Arts
- Breaking news
- Corporate
- Editorial
- Environment
- Events
- Interior
- Landscape
- Portrait
- Reporting
