Cyanotype Imperfections: Photographs of British Algae

(Hardback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The overconsumption and waste of cheap clothing, garments often worn only a few
times (sometimes never at all), and then discarded. For this new work the artist has recovered
waste clothing from 121 locations around the coast of Britain, presenting them as unique
cyanotype images.
The project was inspired by the work of Anna Atkins, a Victorian botanist and photographer whose
groundbreaking book, Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Impressions, 1843, Barker has
based her own work on, but rather than showing natural algae and seaweed as Atkins did, Barker
chose to show the clothing and garments recovered from the same British shorelines.

Author Bio

Mandy Barkers work has been published widely including in; National Geographic Magazine, TIME
Magazine, The Guardian, The New Scientist, The British Journal of Photography, VOGUE, and to
illustrate key academic and scientific research papers about current plastic research. Her work
has been exhibited internationally including MoMA Museum of Modern Art, the United Nations
headquarters in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum London among others.