Artist Résumé
Aidan is a Cape Town-based art director and photographer with extensive experience in the fine art photography realm. His work has garnered international recognition, including award nominations from the Sony World Photography Awards and the Royal Photographic Society. He is also preparing for upcoming gallery exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery in London. Alongside his fine art practice, Aidan has a strong background in commercial photography, seamlessly integrating artistic vision with brand storytelling to create compelling visual campaigns. Driven by a passion for aesthetics, emotion, and storytelling, he combines meticulous composition with a profound sense of depth and human connection. With a foundation in communication design and influences from art, fashion, cinema, and nostalgia, Aidan crafts visual narratives that resonate deeply. Whether through intimate stories, striking contrasts, or playful elegance, he has the ability to transform brands into emotion, faces into characters, and places into meaningful moments.
-
Education
2020 - BA Visual Communication, Double Major in Photography & Graphic Design, Open Window Institute, Gauteng, South Africa.
2021 - BA Honours Visual Communication, Major in Photography (Graduated with Distinction), Stellenbosch Academy of Design & Photography, Stellenbosch, Western Cape, South Africa.
-
Awards
2021 - Finalist: Loerie Awards for Lucid Dreams conceptual photograph
2021 - Finalist: Loerie Awards for D’nokasi Fashion Shoot body of work.
2022 - World Finalist: Sony World Photography Awards Student Competition for Becoming South African body of work.
2022 - Image of the Month February: Sony World Photography Organisation for the image Lying in Wait, of the Becoming South African project.
2022 - Siena International Photographic Awards: Becoming South African project shortlisted.
2022 - Siena International Photographic Awards: Isibaya image shortlisted for portraiture category.
2022 - Siena International Photographic Awards:Junkyard image shortlisted for portraiture category.
2022 - Finalist: Loerie Awards for Becoming South African body of work.
2022 - Shortlist: Royal Photographic Society International Photographic Exhibition 164.
2024 - Foto Slovo International Awards: Time’s Relentless Melt 3rd place winner for fine art series.
2025 - Royal Photographic Society International Photographic Exhibition 166: Selected as an exhibitor at Saatchi Gallery, London.
-
Press
Harry Guinness, “The best student and youth photographers of 2022”, Popular Photography 24 Jan 2022.
“Sony World Photography Awards Student Finalists Announced”, Aesthetica Magazine, January 2022.
"Explore the IPE 166 Shortlist", Royal Photographic Society, International Photographic Exhibition 166, October 2024.
-
Publications
Marika Magazine “Habits and Contradictions in Covid”, issue 108 August 2020.
Marika Magazine “Lonely Diamond”, issue 111 - Portrait - August 2020.
Journal “Six young photographers to watch”, The Journal of The Royal Photographic Society, Vol 162/No 3 rps.org, May/June 2022.
Book Sony World Photography Awards 2022
Newsletter Duncan Miller Gallery’s Your Daily Photograph 2023
Vero News room creator stories and platform feature, 16th May 2024.
Business Insider I'm a tech startup founder. We weed out job applications written with ChatGPT by hiding a prompt just for AI in our listings. Corporate Portraiture by Aidan Murgatroyd.
-
Exhibitions
2021 Group Exhibition Stellenbosch Academy of Design and Photography Graduate Exhibition, Stellenbosch, South Africa.
2022 Group Exhibition, Sony World Photography Awards Somerset House, London, United Kingdom
2022 Group Exhibition, Sony World Photography Awards virtual exhibition
2024 Group Exhibition, Ripples 2nd Annual Community Art Event, UC Law San Francisco.
2024 Digital Group Exhibition, Foto Slovo International Awards: Fine art gallery.
2025 International Photography Exhibition 166, Saatchi Gallery London, 4th August - September 16.