Margaret Mitchell (photographer)

{{Infobox artist

| name = Margaret Mitchell

| image =

| caption =

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1968}}

| birth_place = Stirling, Scotland

| death_date =

| death_place =

| nationality = Scottish

| field = Photography

| training = Edinburgh Napier University
Edinburgh College of Art

| movement =

| works =

| awards = Sony World Photography Awards – 2nd place Professional Category, Contemporary Issues (2018)
Royal Photographic Society IPE 160 – Gold Award Winner (2017)
LensCulture Portrait Awards: Finalist Series (2017)

| alt =

| website = {{URL|margaretmitchell.co.uk}}

}}

Margaret Mitchell (born 1968) is a Scottish portrait and documentary photographer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/margaret-mitchell|title=Margaret Mitchell {{!}} National Galleries of Scotland|website=www.nationalgalleries.org|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} Her work has recurrent themes of childhood and youth, place and belonging. She works on short and long term personal projects as well as editorially and on commissions.{{Cite web|url=https://explorepartsunknown.com/scotland/the-perfect-day-in-glasgow/|title=Anthony Bourdain: Explore Parts Unknown - Here's how to spend a perfect day in Glasgow|date=2018-12-19|website=Explore Parts Unknown|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjp-online.com/2018/10/invisible-britain/|title=Showing Invisible Britain|date=2018-10-22|website=British Journal of Photography|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/2018/10/31/striking-new-book-reveals-raw-portraits-invisible-britain/|title=Striking new book reveals raw portraits of 'Invisible Britain'|date=2018-10-31|website=I Am Birmingham|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://margaretmitchell.co.uk/editorial|title=Editorial & Commissions|website=Margaret Mitchell|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} Her photography ranges from exploring communities, children and childhood as well as long-term documentation projects on issues of social inequality. Ideas around the paths that lives take have been explored in several series.{{Cite web|url=https://www.itsnicethat.com/articles/margaret-mitchell-family-in-this-place-photography-110717|title=Margaret Mitchell re-shoots her family over 20 years since she last photographed them|date=2017-07-11|website=It's Nice That|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.lensculture.com/articles/margaret-mitchell-the-eastern-wood|title=The Eastern Wood - Photographs by Margaret Mitchell {{!}} Text by Sophie Wright|last=LensCulture|first=Margaret Mitchell {{!}}|website=LensCulture|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://fotoroom.co/in-this-place-margaret-mitchell/|title=Margaret Mitchell Photographed Her Sister's Children Over Twenty Years Ago, and Again in 2017|website=FotoRoom|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} A book of her work, Passage, was published in 2021.

In 2018 Mitchell was awarded in the Sony World Photography Awards (2nd place Professional Category, Contemporary Issues){{cite web|accessdate=2019-09-05|title=2nd Place, "In This Place" by Margaret Mitchell|url=https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-galleries/2018/professional/winners/contemporary-issues/2nd|website=World Photography Organisation}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldphoto.org/sony-world-photography-awards/winners-galleries/2018/professional/winners/contemporary-issues/2nd|title=2nd Place, "In This Place" by Margaret Mitchell|website=World Photography Organisation|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-scotsman/20180421|work=The Scotsman Newspaper |title='Scot gets Sony Recognition'|via=PressReader|access-date=2019-05-29}} with her long term series In This Place. In 2017 she was awarded Gold{{Cite web|url=http://rps.org/competitions/ipe-160|title=RPS International Photography Exhibition 160 - RPS|website=rps.org|access-date=2019-05-28}} in the Royal Photographic Society International Photography Exhibition IPE 160 for a series of environmental portraits from In This Place. Her work is held in the collection of the National Galleries of Scotland. Mitchell has exhibited at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery as part of When We Were Young | Photographs of Childhood{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/exhibition/when-we-were-young-photographs-childhood-national-galleries-scotland|title=When We Were Young {{!}} Photographs of Childhood from the National Galleries of Scotland|website=National Galleries of Scotland|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} from the National Galleries of Scotland. She has also shown work in the Taylor Wessing Exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.

Education

Mitchell graduated from Edinburgh Napier University with a degree in Photography, Film and Television in 1994{{Cite web|url=https://www.napier.ac.uk:443/about-us/news/edinburgh-napier-degree-show-welcomes-five-new-faces-to-its-alumni-hall-of-fame/|title=Edinburgh Napier Degree Show welcomes five new faces to its Alumni Hall of Fame|website=Napier|language=English|access-date=2019-05-28}} and has a Masters in Photography from Edinburgh College of Art (2000).

Career

In 1994, Mitchell made the documentary work 'Family'. The series concentrated on the lives of Mitchell's sister and her children in the Raploch area in the town of Stirling, Scotland, an area which scores highly in the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bjp-online.com/2018/03/royal-photographic-society-international-photography-exhibition-2018/|title=Margaret Mitchell: In This Place|date=2018-03-07|website=British Journal of Photography|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/features/photographing-family|title=Photographing Family|website=National Galleries of Scotland|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} Mitchell states that photography as social commentary is what drew her into being a photographer and how her work 'Family' was 'rooted in the stigmatisation of certain strands of society'

In her early career, she also worked in areas of disability and representation, working within participatory arts practice and as a photography lecturer for over 10 years.{{Cite web|url=http://www.documentscotland.com/margaret-mitchell-re-connects/|title=Margaret Mitchell Re-Connects {{!}} Document Scotland|date=8 February 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} Her projects on childhood often contain a psychological aspect and she is quoted as saying she is "pulled by the personal, the experiential in people's lives and that often includes issues-based work".{{Cite web|url=http://www.thentherewasus.co.uk/interview/an-interview-with-margaret-mitchell/|title=An Interview With Margaret Mitchell|website=Then There Was Us|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}} Early portrait series include 'Tiree Schoolchildren',{{Cite web|url=https://margaretmitchell.co.uk/tiree-schoolchildren|title=Tiree: Schoolchildren|website=Margaret Mitchell|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} 'Into The Village'{{Cite web|url=https://margaretmitchell.co.uk/poland|title=Into The Village|website=Margaret Mitchell|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} and later 'The Eastern Wood'.

Mitchell’s series 'In This Place' (2015-17) updates the lives of the people in 'Family' (1994) in a story of social inequality alongside the importance of family ties and the experience of loss. The work documents the family's relationships against the backdrop of urban displacement and inequality that passes from generation to generation. This large documentary asks the viewer to consider how society operates and to see that choices are not equal for all people across the economic spectrum. It offers a broader commentary on social and domestic environment, opportunity and social inequality within Scotland and the UK. This work has been widely exhibited within awards, festivals and galleries.{{Cite web|url=https://formatfestival.com/whats-on/family-and-in-this-place/|title=Family & In This Place|website=Format Festival|access-date=2019-05-28}}

Other projects include The Guisers{{Cite web|url=https://margaretmitchell.co.uk/the-guisers|title=The Guisers|website=Margaret Mitchell|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.newspaperclub.com/blog/posts/16473-interview-margaret-mitchell-photographer|title=Interview: Margaret Mitchell, Photographer - Newspaper Club|website=www.newspaperclub.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=http://sshop.org.uk/project/margaret-mitchell-the-guisers/|title=Margaret Mitchell {{!}} The Guisers|website=The Scottish Society for the History of Photography|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}} which looks at the psychological and cultural aspects of children at Halloween in Scotland. This documentation of a centuries old tradition in Scotland explores the often complex reasoning behind the children's choices in Halloween costumes.{{Cite web|url=http://www.documentscotland.com/guisers/|title=The Guisers by Margaret Mitchell {{!}} Document Scotland|date=22 October 2018 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}

Publications

Passage. Liverpool: Bluecoat, 2021. {{ISBN|9781908457622}}. With a foreword by Alasdair Foster. Includes the series Family and In This Place.

Awards

2017 LensCulture Portrait Awards: Finalist Series{{Cite web|url=https://www.lensculture.com/2017-lensculture-portrait-award-winners|title=WINNERS—LensCulture Portrait Awards 2017|last=LensCulture|website=LensCulture|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2017 Kuala Lumpur International Photoawards – Winner 2nd place{{Cite web|url=https://www.flipsnack.com/A6CC7F97C6F/klpa-2017-exhibition-catalogue.html|title=KLPA 2017 Exhibition Catalogue|last=Flipsnack|website=Flipsnack|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2017 Renaissance Photography Prize – Finalist Series{{Cite web|url=http://www.urban75.org/blog/renaissance-photography-prize-2017-at-the-getty-gallery-london/|title=Renaissance Photography Prize 2017 at the Getty Gallery, London|last=editor|date=2017-10-12|website=urban75 blog|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://margaretmitchell.co.uk/news/renaissance-photography-prize-2017|title=Renaissance Photography Prize 2017|website=Margaret Mitchell|date=30 August 2017 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2017 Royal Photographic Society IPE 160 – Gold Award Winner{{Cite web|url=http://rps.org/news/2017/september/award-winners-announced-for-the-rps-for-the-160th-edition-of-the-international-photography-exhibition|title=Award winners announced for the 160th edition of the RPS International Photography Exhibition|website=rps.org|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/in-pictures-41472252|title=From Montana to Scotland: Portraits dominate RPS photo competition|date=2017-10-04|access-date=2019-05-28|language=en-GB}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/latest/photo-news/rps-photography-competition-111260|title=RPS photography competition winner shares the emotional loss behind her images|date=2017-10-09|website=Amateur Photographer|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2018 Sony World Photography Awards – 2nd place Professional Category, Contemporary Issues{{Cite web|url=https://www.photomonitor.co.uk/sony-world-photography-awards-2018/|title=Photomonitor - Exhibition Reviews, Reviews - Sony World Photography Awards 2018|last=Pharmacy|first=The Code|date=26 April 2018 |language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2018 Slideluck Editorial Leica Award with Leica Fotografie International{{Cite web|url=https://lfi-online.de/ceemes/en/news/love-me-tender-contest-gewinner-1005910.html|title='Love Me Tender' Contest Winners {{!}} LFI News|last=Germany|first=LFI-Leica Fotografie International, Hamburg|website=LFI|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}

Exhibitions

2014–15 National Portrait Gallery, London Taylor Wessing 2014 Photographic Portrait Prize Exhibition
2015 Gallery 103, Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow Documenting Britain
2016 Krakow Photomonth Der Greif »A Process 2.0«
2017 Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow Ambit: Photographies from Scotland{{Cite web|url=http://www.streetlevelphotoworks.org/event/ambit|title=Ambit: Photographies from Scotland|website=Street Level Photoworks|date=22 April 2017 |language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2017 St Andrews Photography Festival
2017 Whitebox Gallery, Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur International Portrait Photoawards
2017 Getty Images Gallery London Renaissance Photography Prize
2017 The Royal Photographic Society IPE 160 Exhibition PHOTOBLOCK at The Old Truman Brewery
2017 Street Level Photoworks off-site exhibition at the Lillie Art Gallery: In This Place
2017–18 Scottish National Portrait Gallery: When We Were Young: Photographs of Childhood from the National Galleries of Scotland
2018 The Printspace, London Awards exhibition IPE160{{Cite web|url=https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/43339488577?aff=efbneb|title=RPS IPE 160 Award Winners - London Showcase Private View|website=Eventbrite|language=en-gb|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2018 An Lanntair, Stornoway{{Cite web|url=http://lanntair.com/arts/10-from-the-north/|title=10 from the North {{!}} 10 bho Tuath|website=An Lanntair|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-29}}
2018 Flow Fotofest,Inverness
2018 Sony World Photography Awards Exhibition Somerset House, London{{Cite web|url=https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/2018-sony-world-photography-awards|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190114210602/https://www.somersethouse.org.uk/whats-on/2018-sony-world-photography-awards|url-status=dead|archive-date=2019-01-14|title=2018 Sony World Photography Awards {{!}} Somerset House|date=2019-01-14|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2018 Slideluck Editorial global tour, DOCfield Barcelona and Fotofestival Solar Brazil
2018–19 Portcullis House & Open Eye Gallery '209 Women'{{Cite web|url=https://www.artinliverpool.com/events/open-eye-gallery-209-women/|title=Open Eye Gallery: 209 WOMEN|website=Artinliverpool.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.uk/209-women|title=209 Women Exhibition|website=UK Parliament|language=English|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.209women.co.uk/|title=209 Women|website=209 Women|language=en|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2019 FORMAT International Photography Festival 'In This Place'{{Cite web|url=https://formatfestival.com/|title=Format Festival -|website=Format Festival|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://formatfestival.com/participant/margaret-mitchell/|title=Margaret Mitchell Archives|website=Format Festival|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2019 Festival Circulation(s), Paris 'Family' and 'In This Place'{{Cite web|url=https://www.festival-circulations.com/en/|title=Home|website=Circulations|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-28}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.festival-circulations.com/artiste/mitchell-margaret-2/|title=MITCHELL Margaret|website=Circulations|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-28}}
2019 Open Eye Gallery, Kinship{{Cite web|url=https://openeye.org.uk/whatson/kinship/|title=Kinship|website=Open Eye Gallery|language=en-US|access-date=2019-05-28}}

References

External links

{{Official website|margaretmitchell.co.uk}}

Category:British documentary photographers

Category:Scottish women photographers

Category:Alumni of Edinburgh Napier University

Category:1968 births

Category:Living people

Category:Women photojournalists

Category:21st-century British women photographers

Category:21st-century British photographers