Mark Neville (born 1966) is a British social documentary photographer.

Life and work

Neville studied

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwork ...

Reading University The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

, Berkshire (B.A.),

Goldsmiths' College Goldsmiths, University of London, officially the Goldsmiths' College, is a constituent research university of the University of London in England. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by the Wor ...

in London (M.A.) and the

Rijksakademie The Rijksakademie van beeldende kunsten (State Academy of Fine Arts) was founded in 1870 in Amsterdam. It is a classical academy, a place where philosophers, academics and artists meet to test and exchange ideas and knowledge. The school support ...

in Amsterdam, Netherlands. As an artist he is known for working at the interface of art and documentary utilizing photography and films to capture the unique face of working communities. Neville is best known for his ''Port Glasgow Book Project'', after he spent a year as artist in residence in

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most recen ...

in 2004 portraying the town's hardship of Scotland's post-industrial decline in a photographic book which was distributed as a free gift to all members of the community. He has worked on commissioned projects by

The Andy Warhol Museum The Andy Warhol Museum is located on the North Shore of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. It is the largest museum in North America dedicated to a single artist. The museum holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archive ...

in Pittsburgh (''Braddock/Sewickley'', 2012) and

Mount Stuart Mount Stuart is a mountain in the Cascade Range, in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the second highest non-volcanic peak in the state, after Bonanza Peak and seventh-highest overall. Mount Stuart is the highest peak in the Stuart Range, and ...

on the

Isle of Bute The Isle of Bute ( sco, Buit; gd, Eilean Bhòid or '), known as Bute (), is an island in the Firth of Clyde in Scotland, United Kingdom. It is divided into highland and lowland areas by the Highland Boundary Fault. Formerly a constituent isl ...

(''Fancy Pictures'', 2008). His work ''Deeds Not Words'', which addresses the

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 Census, the built-up area had a population of 5 ...

community involved in the toxic waste disposal court case, exhibited in 2013 at

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established in ...

in London. Neville created a body of work based on a three-month residency with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in the Afghan province of

Helmand Helmand (Pashto/Dari: ; ), also known as Hillmand, in ancient times, as Hermand and Hethumand, is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, in the south of the country. It is the largest province by area, covering area. The province contains 13 ...

as the UK's official war artist in 2011. Part of ''The Helmand Work'' showed at London's

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

's Contemporary Art Gallery during its relaunch in Summer 2014. Neville suffered from and was eventually treated for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder upon his return from Helmand, and this experience also resulted in ''The Battle Against Stigma Book Project''. A selection of emails and prints from the book was included in the touring group exhibition ''With Different Eyes – The Portrait in Contemporary Photography'' which opened at

Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur Die Photographische Sammlung is the photography museum of the , the cultural foundation of the bank in Cologne, Germany. The full name is usually stylized Die Photographische Sammlung/SK Stiftung Kultur. The collection includes an archive of th ...

and Kunstmuseum Bonn in 2016, and in Neville’s solo show ''Battle Against Stigma'' at QUAD in Derby, England in 2018. In 2012 ''The New York Times Magazine'' commissioned Neville to make the photo essay ''Here is London'', which examined wealth inequality in the capital, and which they subsequently nominated for The Pulitzer Prize. In 2016 Steidl published the first commercially available book on Neville's activist book practice. ''Fancy Pictures'' includes work from six of Neville's projects with an interview between David Campany and Neville and was shortlisted for the 2017

Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards The Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook Awards is a yearly photography book award that is given jointly by Paris Photo and Aperture Foundation. It is announced at the Paris Photo fair and was established in 2012. The categories are First P ...

PhotoBook of the Year. Neville’s 2017 project ''Child’s Play'' continued his investigation into mental health issues by examining the importance of play in personal development. Neville’s project made a link between the closures of adventure playgrounds in Britain’s urban areas and a drastic rise in cases of depression and anxiety among young people and children. Begun June 2016 on the day Britain voted to leave the European Union Neville's ''Parade'' book project was commissioned by GwinZegal Centre of Art, in the town of Guingamp, France. Disgusted by the outcome of the Brexit vote, Neville decided to examine what community meant in Brittany ('Little Britain’), as a mirror to his own native country. For many years, Neville lived and worked in London. In October 2020, he moved to Kyiv in the Ukraine.

Awards

*2013: Nominated,

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

, by ''The New York Times Magazine'' for his photo essay ''Here Is London'' *2017: Shortlisted, PhotoBook of the Year,

, for his book ''Fancy Pictures'' *2018: Shortlisted, Daiwa Foundation Art Prize along with

Kate Groobey Kate Groobey (born 1979) is a British artist based in South Yorkshire and the South of France. Early life and education Born in Leeds, Yorkshire, Groobey was educated at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, University of Oxford receiving ...

and

Keith Milow Keith Milow (born 29 December 1945 in London) is a British artist. He grew up in Baldock, Hertfordshire, and lived in New York City (1980–2002) and Amsterdam (2002–2014), now lives in London. He is an abstract sculptor, painter and printmak ...

*2019: Nominated,

Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize is a prize awarded annually by the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation and The Photographers' Gallery to a photographer who has made the most significant contribution to the photographic medium i ...

2020, London for his book ''Parade;'' also exhibited at The Photographers' Gallery, London. The other nominations were

Clare Strand Clare Strand (born 1973) is a British conceptual photographer based in Brighton and Hove in the UK. She makes, as David Campany puts it, "black-and-white photographs that would be equally at home in an art gallery, the offices of a scientific in ...

, Mohamed Bourouissa and Anton Kusters.

Publications

*''Port Glasgow.'' Self-published, 2004. Edition of 8000 copies.Neville's page about ''Port Glasgow''
/ref> *''Deeds Not words.'' Self-published, 2011. Edition of 500 copies.Neville's page about ''Deeds Not Words''
/ref> *''London/Pittsburgh.'' London:

Alan Cristea Gallery Cristea Roberts Gallery, formerly Alan Cristea Gallery, is a commercial gallery in central London that was founded by Alan Cristea in 1995. David Cleaton-Roberts, Helen Waters and Kathleen Dempsey are also senior directors. Cristea Roberts Gallery ...

, 2014. . *''Battle Against Stigma.'' Self-published, 2015. Two volumes; one volume has photographs by Neville and text by Neville and Jamie Hacker Hughes, the other volume contains written testimonies from various soldiers. . Neville's page about ''Battle against Stigma''
/ref> *''Child's Play.'' London: Foundling Museum, 2017. . Edition of 500 copies.Neville's page about ''Child's Play''
/ref> *''Fancy Pictures.'' Göttingen, Germany:

Steidl Steidl is a German-language publisher, an international publisher of photobooks, and a printing company, based in Göttingen, Germany. It was started in 1968 by Gerhard Steidl and is still run by him. Overview The company was started by Gerha ...

, 2016. . Includes work from six of Neville's projects. With an interview between

David Campany David Campany (born 8 October 1967) is a British writer, curator, artist and educator, working mainly with photography. He has written and edited books; contributed essays and reviews to other books, journals, magazines and websites; curated pho ...

and Neville, "Fancy Pictures".Steidl's page about ''Fancy Pictures''
/ref> *''Parade.'' Guingamp, France: GwinZegal, 2019. .Neville's page about ''Parade''
/ref>GwinZegal's page about ''Parade''
/ref> *''Stop Tanks with Books.'' Nazraeli, 2022. . Photographs by Neville and short stories by Lyuba Yakimchuk. Edited by David Campany.Neville's page about ''Stop Tanks with Books''
/ref>Nazraeli's page about ''Stop Tanks with Books''
/ref>

Notes

References

External links