Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2020 shortlisted British artist Mark Neville moved home and studio from London to live in Kyiv, Ukraine, last year.
Since 2015 Neville has been documenting life in Ukraine, with subjects ranging from holidaymakers on the beaches of Odessa, to the Roma communities on the Hungarian border, the churchgoers and nightclubbers of Kyiv, to both civilians and soldiers living on the frontline in Eastern Ukraine. Eighty of Neville’s photographs are brought together in this book, edited by David Campany, together with short stories about the conflict from Ukrainian novelist Lyuba Yakimchuk; research from the Centre of Eastern European Studies in Berlin about the 2.5 million Ukrainians already displaced by the war; and a call to action for the international community.
Employing his unique, activist strategy of a targeted book dissemination, Neville is sending out 750 complimentary copies of the book to key policymakers, opinion-makers, ambassadors, members of parliament, members of the international community and its media. An additional 750 copies are also available through Nazraeli Press for general distribution internationally.
Publisher’s Info
Book Specs: Stop Tanks With Books by Mark Neville published by Nazraeli Press 2022 | Edited by David Campany | Hardcover | 320 x 300 mm | 180 pages | 80 four-color plates | ISBN: 978-1-59005-564-9. Available here.
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Mark Neville works at the intersection of art and documentary, investigating the social function of photography. He makes lens-based works which have been realised and disseminated in a large array of contexts, as both still and moving image pieces, slideshows, films, and giveaway books. His work has consistently looked to subvert the traditional role of social documentary practice, seeking to find new ways to empower the position of its subject over that of the author.
Often working with closely knit communities, in a collaborative process intended to be of direct, practical benefit to the subject, his photographic projects to date have frequently made the towns he portrays the primary audience for the work. Points of reference for his practice might include the ideas of Henri Lefebvre, or the art works of Martha Rosler, John Berger, or Hans Haacke.
Video: Artist Talk: Mark Neville by The Photographers’ Gallery
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