SHELF-LIFE: Mandy Barker photography exhibition in Queenstown

Mandy Barker says, “The aim of my work is to engage with and stimulate an emotional response in the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction along with the subsequent message of awareness.”

Mandy Barker is an international award-winning photographer whose work involving marine plastic debris has received global recognition for more than 10 years. Working with scientists, she aims to raise awareness about plastic pollution in the world's oceans, highlighting the harmful effect on marine life and ourselves – ultimately leading the viewer to take action.

In June 2019 Barker took part in the ‘Henderson Island Plastic Pollution Expedition’ which has been awarded the title of an ‘Explorers Club Flag Expedition’. With only 3 - 5 expeditions per year recognised in this way - previous others having included the Apollo 11 Space Mission, and the dive to Challenger Deep - this significant achievement included recording data as well as photographing marine plastic pollution, has now become part of the archives, accessible to other modern-day explorers and scholars.

Barker's work has been published in more than 50 different countries and she is a recipient of the 2018 National Geographic Society Grant for Research and Exploration. Barker is a member of the Union of Concerned Photographers (UCP), which is dedicated to using the power of imagery to underline the urgency of environmental concerns.

Iona Thomas, British High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor of the Pitcairn Islands, says she believes exhibition-goers may be inspired to rethink their relationship with plastic.

"This exhibition is a great example of how we can use art to raise awareness about global environmental threats and to help bring about positive change."

"The waters around the Pitcairn Islands contain an exceptional and fragile marine environment with incredible biodiversity. But as Mandy Barker’s work shows, even this remote and pristine setting is not immune to the impacts of human behaviour and pollution."

"The scale of plastic discovered there on our 2019 expedition and documented in this work is truly shocking. I want to thank Mandy for drawing attention to this important issue and highlighting why protection of our marine environment is so vital – both for the Pitcairn community and the rest of the world."