Ian Teh
IAN TEH’s documentary photography explores environmental degradation and the social costs of development. Motivated by ecological and humanitarian concerns, he uses photography to investigate the dreams and sacrifices behind rapid urbanisation and industrial growth.
Teh has published three books: Undercurrents, Traces, and Confluence. His work is held in the LACMA, MFA Houston, and Hood Museum collections. Solo exhibitions include the Kunsthal Rotterdam, Flowers London, and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. A National Geographic Explorer, in 2023, he was awarded a grant for his project, The Line of Least Resistance.
Teh is the winner of the 2022 Silvana Foundation Commission Award. In 2018, he was a Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting grantee and presented his work at the National Geographic Photography Seminar.
His photography has appeared in National Geographic, The New Yorker, Granta, and Bloomberg Businessweek. He is a member of Panos Pictures. He lives in Kuala Lumpur.
Books
2014
Confluence – Monsoon Masterclass
2011
Traces – Deep Sleep Editions.
2008
Undercurrents – Timezone 8.
Selected Exhibitions
2016
‘Traces: Landscapes in Transition on the Yellow River Basin’. Photo Reporter Festival. St. Brieuc, France.
2015
‘Traces: From the Frontline of Climate Change Along China’s Yellow River’. Lianzhou Foto Festival. Guangdong, China.
2014
‘Traces: Landscapes in Transition on the Yellow River Basin’. Tasneem Gallery. Barcelona, Spain.
2013
‘Traces: Landscapes in Transition on the Yellow River Basin’. Moving Walls, Open Society Foundations. New York, USA.
2012
‘Traces’. SIPF. Art Science Museum, Singapore.
‘Traces’. Kunsthall Museum, Rotterdam, Holland.
2011
‘Traces’. Flowers East Gallery, London
2008
‘Undercurrents’. Kiang Gallery, Atlanta, USA.
2004
‘The Vanishing’. Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, USA.
