Katie Aird

CATALYST: Scholar Spotlight – Katie Aird

Aird is a photographer and art director based in Manchester, working across fine art, photography, and commercial and editorial work. Her work has been featured by the United Nations, Redeye: The Photography Network, and Lomography. She recently published two zines: Only Fans and Lost and Styled. This work also featured at the University of Salford Art Collection booth at The Manchester Contemporary 2023.


Image: Courtesy of Jules Lister

Aird utilises 35mm photography and experimental techniques to explore cycles of life, death, and infinite energy. Her work is inspired by the concept of ‘entropy’ from thermodynamics – which concerns energy, order and disorder – and how it relates to human psychology. Original images of flowers – which symbolise the cycles of nature and regeneration that are part of everyday life – are distorted through a process of ‘scanography’ – using a flatbed scanner as a camera to manipulate light and form in unexpected ways.


Images: Courtesy of Sam Parker