ANGEL TIAN RAN SONG

Artist · Photographer · Curator

BIOGRAPHY

Angel Tian Ran Song is a London based Chinese Canadian artist, photographer and curator whose practice explores identity, collective memory, cultural diaspora and the relationship between photography and personal archives.

Working primarily with analogue photography, moving image and mixed-media installation, Song investigates how personal and familial photographs function as vessels of memory, cultural inheritance and belonging. Her work considers the relationship between individual experience and collective histories, often drawing upon domestic archives, found imagery and the visual language of family photography.

Her research-led practice is informed by her cross-cultural background and experiences of living between different cultural and geographical contexts.

EDUCATION

MA Contemporary Art
Sotheby's Institute of Art, London, UK
Research focus: Contemporary art theory, photography, art history and the art market.

BA Fine Art
Chelsea College of Arts, University of the Arts London, London, UK
Specialisation: Photography and Time-Based Media.

Foundation Diploma in Art and Design
Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts London, London, UK

ARTISTIC RESEARCH & SELECTED PROJECTS

Reinvestigating the Family Photograph: A Study of Hidden Narratives, Identity, and Memory in Contemporary Art
MA Research Thesis, Sotheby's Institute of Art

An investigation into the use of family photography and archival practices in contemporary art, examining how domestic photographs can reveal hidden narratives surrounding identity, memory, cultural displacement and intergenerational relationships.

Research includes contemporary photographic practices across Asian and diasporic contexts, exploring the archive as both a personal and institutional construct.

Family Archives & Diasporic Memory
Ongoing Artistic Research

An ongoing exploration of family photographs, inherited images and personal archives as visual records of migration, belonging and cultural identity. Drawing upon family photographs from China, alongside archival materials and rephotographic processes, the research considers how images carry and transform memories across generations.

Carried Homes / Home Away From Home
Independent Project Development

An evolving photographic and time-based media project exploring ideas of home, displacement, belonging and the objects and memories carried between geographical locations.

SELECTED PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Gallery Associate
Achille Salvagni Atelier, London, UK
March 2025 – Present

Gallery Assistant & Young Masters Coordinator
Cynthia Corbett Gallery, London, UK
January 2025 – July 2025

Editorial Contributor / Writer
Made in Bed Magazine
Artist interviews, contemporary art writing and editorial content.

Freelance Photographer
London, UK
Event photography and independent photographic projects.

AREAS OF PRACTICE & RESEARCH

• Analogue and film photography

• Darkroom and silver gelatin printing

• Archival and found photography

• Family photography and domestic archives

• Moving image and time-based media

• Mixed-media installation

• Cultural identity and diaspora

• Memory, migration and belonging

• Contemporary photographic theory

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Contemporary photography · Family archives · Diasporic identity · Collective memory · Archival practices · Intergenerational narratives · Asian contemporary art