Mandy Barker

Mandy Barker is an international award-winning photographer and multidisciplinary artist whose work addressing marine plastic debris has received global recognition. Working alongside scientists and researchers, Barker aims to bring awareness to plastic pollution in the world's oceans and highlight its harmful effects on marine ecosystems and human health.

Barker has been published in over 50 countries and publications including National Geographic, Time, The Guardian, Smithsonian, The Explorer’s Journal, and New Scientist. She is frequently invited to contribute expert commentary in interviews with the BBC, ITV, Greenpeace, CNN, and the British Embassy. Her work has been exhibited worldwide from MoMA Museum of Modern Art, the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Science and Technology Park in Hong Kong.

Life and Work Born in Hull, East Yorkshire, Barker studied an Art Foundation Course at Hull College before completing a BA Graphic Design at Newcastle Polytechnic. Later in life she studied HNC Photography at Harrogate and an MA in Photography at De Montfort University.

After graduation she began investigating marine plastic debris, collaborating with scientists to raise public awareness of plastic pollution in the oceans, examine and record the scale of the problem, and encourage viewers to take action.

Barker received the Royal Photographic Society Environmental Bursary in 2012, enabling her to take part in the Tsunami Debris Field Expedition across the North Pacific Ocean alongside scientists and researchers. She went on to receive a National Geographic Society Grant for Research and Exploration in 2018, to be shortlisted for the Prix Pictet Award in 2017, and to be nominated for Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize in 2018.

In 2019 she was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society.

Mandy Barker lives in Leeds.

Exhibitions Barker has exhibited in more than 30 countries since 2011. To reach and engage a wide audience she has presented work in diverse spaces including galleries, marine debris conferences, site-specific installations, harbours, beaches and marine environments.

In 2019 Barker displayed work in over 25 different exhibitions globally, including three major solo shows at The Royal Photographic Society in Bristol, Impressions Gallery in Bradford, and Fotografiska in Stockholm.

During COP26 in 2021, Barker presented her work across 17 countries, with a major solo show at the Auckland Memorial Museum in New Zealand supported by the British Council New Zealand and the British High Commission.

Solo

2017 'Imperfectly Known Animals', Sirius Arts Centre, Cobh, Cork, Ireland 2017 “SOUP”, Fine Foundation Gallery, Durlston Castle, Swanage, UK 2018 "Mandy Barker: Hong Kong Soup", Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art, Manchester 2018 “Mar De Mares” Festival, A Celebration Dos Oceanos A Coruna, Spain 2019 "Sea of Artifacts" Fotografiska, Stockholm 2019 ‘Ocean Obscura’, Kadmos Gallery, Stockholm, Sweden 2019 ‘Planet or Plastic’, Camera dei Deputati (Italian Parliament) & Complesso di Vicolo Valdina, Rome, Italy 2019 ‘Sea of Artifacts’ Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia 2019 "Not in my planet", Science Museum, Trento 2020 ‘Contaminazioni’, Regione Lombardia, Milan, Italy 2020 ‘Planet or Plastic’ Telli Gallery, Almaty, Kazakhstan 2020 'Ending Ocean Plastic through the Lens of Change', Miami Super Bowl, Miami, United States 2021 ‘Our Plastic Ocean’, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow 2021 ‘Planet or Plastic’ National Geographic, ArtScience Museum, Singapore 2022 ‘PENALTY’, Municipal Heritage Museum, Malaga, Spain 2022 ‘Our Plastic Ocean’, The Scottish Seabird Centre, North Berwick, Scotland 2022 ‘Ocean Galaxy’ PENALTY series, guest room in East Street Arts, Art Hostel, Leeds, England 2022 ‘SHELF-LIFE’, Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland, New Zealand 2023 ‘Plastic SOUP’, Centre for British Photography, London 2023 ‘Plastic SOUP’ , National Trust, The Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock, UK 2024 “Oceans. From Renoir to Microplastics”, Museu Diocesà de Barcelona, Spain 2026 “SOUP” Gracefield Art Gallery, Dumfries, Scotland

Group 2001 "Snapshot of Britain", The Photographers' Gallery, London 2013 EU International Marine Debris Conference – Abion Spreebogen Hotel, Berlin 2013 “An Eye for an Ear”, POS South-East Asia, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia 2013 “SOUP”, The Charles K Kao Auditorium, Science & Technology Park, Hong Kong 2014 “GYRE”, The Anchorage Museum, Alaska 2015 “Scarcity/Waste” Syngenta Photography Award Exhibition, Somerset House, London, and Centro Cultural de Sao Paulo, Brazil 2016 Singapore International Photo Festival SIPF 2016 'Seen on Earth', LensCulture Earth Awards, Kunst Haus Wein, Vienna 2016 “GYRE” San Jose State University Thompson Gallery, San Jose, California 2017 Prix Pictet “SPACE”, touring 12 international venues including; The Victoria & Albert Museum, Zurich, Tokyo, Stuttgart, Moscow, Dublin, San Diego, Houston, Rome & Athens 2017 “SOUP”, Gextophoto, Ereaga Beach and Algorta Metro, Getxo, Bilbao, Spain 2018 “Beyond Drifting”, International Science Film Festival, Nijmegen, The Netherlands 2018 Hamburg Triennial of Photography, Deichtorhallen Square, Hamburg, Germany 2019 "Civilisation: The Way We Live Now", UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing 2019 "A History of Photography: Daguerreotype to Digital" Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2019 Guernsey Photographic Festival, and a performance with the Guernsey Symphony Orchestra, Guernsey, UK 2019 Shanghai Centre of Photography, Peer to Peer, China 2019 ‘Planet or Plastic’ United Nations Visitor’s Centre, New York, United States 2019 'Football is Art', National Football Museum, Manchester, England 2019 'CIVILISATION: The Way We Live Now , UCCA Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China 2020 ‘Anthropocene - Save Our Planet’, Busan International Photo Festival, Gecheong Shipyard, Busan, Korea 2021 “Broken Nature” MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) New York City, United States 2021 ‘Planet or Plastic’ National Geographic Texas State Aquarium, United States 2022 ‘Follow the Water’ ‘DIP Sea KISS’ Mebuyan’s Vessel, San Juan, La Union, Philippines 2023 ‘The Stuff of Life/The Life of Stuff’, Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, Norwich, UK 2023 ‘Throwaway - the History of a Modern Crisis’, The House of European History, Bruxelles, Belgium 2023 ‘Future is Now’ SHELF-LIFE Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw, Poland 2024 ‘Confession to the Earth’, Chungmu Arts Center Gallery, Seoul, South Korea 2024 ‘'Birds: Brilliant and Bizarre’, Natural History Museum, London 2025 “Photographs of British Algae” Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition, London 2025 “Flowers - Flora in Contemporary Culture”, Saatchi Gallery, London 2025 International Photography Festival of Castilla y León 2025, Palencia, Spain 2026 “STILL(FFS) Landskrona Foto Festival, Sweden

Education & Impact Barker’s work is rooted in public and community engagement, with a focus on raising awareness of plastic pollution among younger generations.

She has spoken internationally, leading talks, workshops and residencies, including in remote and environmentally vulnerable regions such as the Philippines and the Solomon Islands, to highlight the harmful affects of plastic pollution and climate change on ecosystems, and to encourage participants to reduce plastic use and consumption.

In 2019, she collaborated with Stanford University’s Communications Program to launch a multi-platform 360° virtual reality experience highlighting the global prevalence of plastic use.

In September 2024, Barker discussed her work in the context of Pope Francis’ reflections, speaking with Mons. Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontificia Accademia per la Vita, and reflecting on her exhibition Oceans: From Renoir to Microplastics, which included seven series of her work and was visited by over 100,000 people.

Talks and Seminars

2017 - Steppes Beyond, The Royal Geographical Society, London, guest speaker. 30 September - 1 October 2018 - National Geographic Photography Seminar - speaker, Washington DC, United States, 11 January 2018 - Almedalen - seminar on behalf of the British Embassy & British Council - Visby, island of Gotland, Sweden 2018 - Stanford University, Graduate Program in Journalism, California, United States 2024 - “Oceans: Beauty and destruction” - Reflections on the work of Mandy Barker and the thoughts of Pope Francis’ Talk with Mons. Vincenzo Paglia, president of the Pontificia Academia per la Vita.

Publications

Monographs

2017 Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals Published 1 May 2017. by Overlapse (Out of Print) 2018 Beyond Drifting: Digest Edition Published September 2018. by Overlapse (Out of print) 2019 Altered Ocean Publication May 2019. by Overlapse (Out of print) 2025 Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections Published 2025. by GOST Books.

Awards, Grants and Recognition 2011 "SOUP” Blurb Photobook Awards - Aperture Foundation, New York - Winner 2012 The Royal Photographic Society Environmental Bursary - Winner 2015 WYNG Masters Award - Hong Kong “WASTE” - Finalist 2015 LensCulture Earth15 Awards - Series Winner - Hong Kong Soup - Winner 2017 Prix Pictet Award ‘SPACE’ - 'Beyond Drifting: Imperfectly Known Animals' - Shortlisted 2017 Magnum Foundation Fund - Nominee 2018 National Geographic Society Grant for Research and Exploration 2019 Fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society (FRPS) 2019 Explorers Flag Expedition Award for the Expedition to Henderson Island 2019 The Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize 2020 - ‘Our Plastic Ocean’ Touring exhibition - Nominee 2021 Leica Oskar Barnack Award - LUNASEA - Nominee 2022 Foam Paul Huf Award - Nominee 2023 Photographic Society of America - IUTP Award 2023 - Honouring living photographers whose work has had a unique impact on the world by focusing attention or changing perceptions. 2025 Arles Les Recontres de la Photographie 2025 Book Awards - Author Book Award - ‘Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections’ - Shortlisted 2025 The Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize 2025 - ‘Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections’ - Nominee

Voyages & Residencies

2012 Tsunami Debris Field Expedition North Pacific Ocean with 5Gyres 10th June – 8th July 2016 Greenpeace Beluga II Expedition, Inner Hebrides – Commission presented to Government 2019 Lord Howe Island – Residency with Adriftlab scientists 2019 Henderson Island Expedition with The Pew Charitable Trust, The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Adriftlab – June 2023 The Society of Four Arts Florida - Residency & Workshop

Media Coverage

2014 CNN ‘Connect The World’ 2015 WYNG Masters Photography Award - Finalist 2016 UNESCO Biosphere Lanzarote, short film 2018 VICE IMPACT "Is circularity the solution to Ocean Plastic", with climate leader Christiana Figueres and designer Stella McCartney, short film 2019 “STILL(FFS)” - Lord Howe Island 2025 CBBC “Go Get Arty” Children’s BBC programme 2025 New Scientist "Visualising Britain's fashion waste problem with cyanotype photography"