Hi, I’m Ian Carleton. (DP, DOP, Cinematographer, Director)Those titles go beside my name on a call sheet. But when I pause to reflect, I feel as though: I am a visualist. That’s the best title I’ve found so far.<div> I work professionally with motion pictures. </div><div> The projects on which I have collaborated as Director of Photography have been twice nominated for Canadian Screen Awards (our top honours in motion picture) and premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. I have shot broadcast commercials for campaigns I truly believe in (Federal/Ontario NDP), told feature-length stories with my favourite artists (Lisa Pictures ft. Claudia Dey, Aisha Evelyina) and shot official concert videos for my favourite musicians (Arcade Fire at the ACC, Timbre Timber at Massey Hall). </div><div> It’s been a good run. </div><div> I am continuing to build my tool-set by growing my voice as a filmmaker. My auteur work is arguably too flickery and experimental in its conception. I love it. As a working artist, it provides an outlet to explore new approaches to our conception of narrative films. For audiences, it acts as a tool for self-reflection, searching for a gateway into our universal feelings, offering them space to be acknowledged, softened, then released. My commercial work is simply an extension of my joy of gabbing. Rooting these pieces in conversation and supporting them with visuals built on the backbone of almost two decades of cinematography work, I strive for honesty in the approach, honesty in the dialogue and honesty in the visuals used to support the messaging. I feel most at home applying these techniques to support social campaigns I believe in. I make still images almost every day of my life. Almost none of them are on social media.</div>