I am a London based artist with over 25 years of experience gained from working in the photographic industry. The extensive knowledge I’ve gained as both a photographer and digital artist has provided me with the essential technical know-how needed to produce Recovering The Past. 

This project has been a true labour of love. A self-funded, non-commissioned project of over seven years in the making, it exists as a result of my own long-term vision and dedication. My desire is that this work will continue to affect millions of people world-wide.

Working alongside the personnel of the DOVO-SEDEE bomb-disposal team was a unique privilege. Witnessing first-hand the legacy and clearance of large quantities of unexploded ammunition from a former battlefield was never less than a sobering experience. I hope that the risks endured on a daily basis by those who both live and work on Belgium’s former Western front has been laid bare in the work.

Recovering The Past is so much more than a statement; it acts as my own personal tribute to not just those who feature in its photographs and text, but to the millions of unheard survivors of human conflict. And at a personal level, it represents the war-caused trauma of my own ancestors.

 

“In August 1916, my great-grandfather – Henry George Spearing – became a casualty of the Battle of the Somme. Shot in the spine and paralysed from the waist down, the injury was his alone; its consequences were not. 

Invalided home and till his death in 1936, Henry was nursed by my great grandmother Louisa-Jane. Despite having not gone neared the war itself, through her relentless dedication to Henry over a twenty year period, Louisa-Jane’s own life was intrinsically compromised as a consequence of the war.  

Their shared experience was the inspiration for this project”.

Ian Alderman, London, 2025