Emile Kees

Emile Kees grew up in a small family of practicing artists; a sculptor, a painter, a potter and a fashion designer, in a house they built themselves while living together in a mobile home in the 1990s. In 2019, he constructed a darkroom using reclaimed materials and taught himself analogue processes and techniques before earning his one year certificate from the International Center of Photography in New York City. Now based in Edinburgh, he has constructed a new bespoke studio darkroom where his images are individually handprinted. Much of his work is informed by sculpture, and explores queer intimacy at the intersection between natural and manufactured spaces, often meditating on ideas of home and seemingly unremarkable coincidences of everyday life.

Since graduating in 2023, he has exhibited across New York, Scotland, England and Switzerland, and continues to host workshops and classes both online and in-person.

He has taught and assisted at cultural institutions such as the Cyprus College of Art, the University of Cambridge through the International Summer Schools of Scotland, the International Center of Photography, and with the European Capital of Culture (PAFOS 2017).