Outernet London showcases one of the most comprehensive Notting Hill Carnival photo archives on its giant screens to mark 60 years of Carnival Carnival 60: Ian Watts at Outernet is an immersive installation using the Notting Hill Carnival photo archive of renowned and award winning photographer Ian Watts. Ian’s photography was transformed into an incredible […]
Through talks and presentations, Watts shares insight into his archive and the wider cultural narratives embedded within his work. Camden Town Hall (October 2025) In Conversation with Art Curator Lisa Anderson, presented alongside the Outernet exhibition and organised by Camden Council V&A Academy, Victoria and Albert Museum (March 2025) – Black Photography:1980s Rebellion to Renaissance Through the Lens […]
“ I am passionate about my work and enjoy capturing people’s lives, thoughts and experiences. I work hard to ensure I bring empathy and an understanding eye to the subjects I am either filming or photographing, whoever they are. ”
Among the first words I said at an exclusive little photography workshop on the east coast last year were: “I don’t give a sh*t about your photographs.” They were not my best-chosen words ever.
Aside from his photographic work, Ian is a BAFTA, RTS and Grierson award-winning director of photography with extensive experience filming documentaries, history, factual, entertainment, music and arts programmes. He has worked with all the main UK broadcasters including the BBC, ITV, Channels Four and Five, Sky and international broadcasters such as Disney, National Geographic, Oprah […]
Ian has shot and provided photographs for a wide variety of music, fiction and arts books, plus media publications over the last two decades. Behind the Masquerade: The Story of Notting Hill Carnival Book published by Art Media Group, 1988 By Kwesi Owusu and Jacob Ross. Photographs by David A. Bailey, Jacob Ross, and Ian […]
Filmmaker and photographer Ian Watts presented a large-scale photographic installation, Carnival Through the Lens of Ian Watts, at Outernet, London’s most visited cultural destination, as part of its Black History Season in October 2025, in collaboration with Camden’s Black History Month. The exhibition immersed audiences in the rhythm, energy, and cultural heartbeat of one of […]
Road Make to Walk: Remembering 1976, photo exhibition documenting a seminal Carnival at The Tabernacle in West London, the spiritual home of Notting Hill Carnival. (June 2026)
As part of the Black History Season at Outernet in conjunction with Camden’s Black History month in October 2025, award-winning filmmaker and photographer Ian Watts unveiled a powerful new photographic installation at Outernet, capturing 40 years of Notting Hill Carnival through his lens. The installation showcases a vibrant mix of black-and-white and colour photography, chronicling the evolution of Carnival […]
Ian’s photographs have appeared on album covers and promotional materials for a range of soul, reggae, and African music stars, including Stevie Wonder, Fela Kuti, Kintone and Revelation. Fela Kuti Box Set #5 Several of Ian’s photographs of the late Afrobeat musician Fela Kuti, were used on the vinyl record album Fela Box Set #5, which was co-curated by […]