Mandy Barker (born 1964, UK) is an international photographer whose work investigates marine plastic debris. Working with scientists she aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world’s oceans to highlight current research of the effects on marine life and ultimately ourselves.
Barker’s work has been published in over 50 countries including National Geographic, Time, The Guardian, Smithsonian, The Explorer’s Journal and New Scientist.
She regularly takes part in talks and interviews for the BBC, ITV, Greenpeace, CNN and the British Embassy.
Her work has been exhibited world-wide from MoMA Museum of Modern Art, and the United Nations headquarters in New York, the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and the Science and Technology Park in Hong Kong.
Barker takes part in key expeditions alongside scientists to some of the most remote places on earth to represent the scale of the marine plastic problem with the intention of leading the viewer to take action.
Barker is an award-winning photographer shortlisted for the Prix Pictet Award SPACE and nominated for The Deutsche Börse Foundation Photography Prize, and the Magnum Foundation Fund.
She is a recipient of the National Geographic Society Grant for Research and Exploration and was awarded the International Understanding Through Photography Award (IUTP) from the Photographic Society of America.
In 2012 she was awarded The Royal Photographic Society's Environmental Bursary that allowed her to take part in a scientific research voyage that sailed in a yacht from Japan to Hawaii across the North Pacific Ocean.
In June 2017 she was invited by Greenpeace to join the Beluga II Expedition which sailed around the remote and unique island locations of the Inner Hebrides in Scotland to recover marine plastic debris in a commission for Greenpeace.
Barker speaks internationally about her work to engage people with the issue, invited as a guest speaker to the National Geographic Photography Seminar in Washington, Stanford University California, and Marfa Dialogues at The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston.
Join Mandy at Summit Photo 2026
She will be speaking at Summit Photo 2026 on Saturday 18 July at 4.30pm to the title Our plastic ocean.
A visual journey from the international award-winning photographic artist, whose work involving marine plastic debris over the past 16 years has received global recognition.
Mandy speaks about her inspiration, collaboration with scientists, expeditions and global engagement on all platforms. She will be wearing clothes recovered from the sea for her talk, in support of her recent project.
