Ian MacEachern worked as a TV cameraman in Sydney and Moncton before moving to Saint John in 1962 to work for CHSJ-TV. Prompted by several fires and impending urban renewal, he began taking photographs that documented the changing face of the city in the mid-1960s.

MacEachern later worked as a freelance magazine and industrial photojournalist and taught photography at H.B. Beal Secondary School, Fanshawe Community College, and the University of Western Ontario. MacEachern's photographs have appeared in numerous publications, including artscanada, Chatelaine, and Maclean's, and have been exhibited throughout Canada and the United States. His work is included in the permanent collection of the McIntosh Gallery at the University of Western Ontario and in several private collections. He lives in London, Ontario.