Margaret Mitchell
FESTIVAL SPEAKER
Margaret Mitchell is a Scottish documentary photographer whose work ranges from exploring communities and children’s worlds through to projects on the individual and society. Bridging psychological landscapes and social concerns, her work explores the intricacies and complexities of people’s lives with a particular emphasis on place and belonging.
Recent bodies of work include An Ordinary Eden, which contemplates the universal need to belong, lay roots, and be connected to people and place, through the experiences of those impacted by housing insecurity.
Her series As the Day Closes explores the end of life through quiet, personal, and in-depth encounters with those living with terminal illness.
From the series ‘As the Day Closes’ ©Margaret Mitchell
Her ongoing work A Gentle Awareness is a meditation on how we are shaped by what and where we belong to, and how the spaces we inhabit become a part of us, as much as we are part of them.
From the series ‘A Gentle Awareness’ ©Margaret Mitchell
Recognition includes in the Marilyn Stafford FotoReportage Award (2022 & 2024), the Sony World Photography Awards (2018), and the Royal Photographic Society IPE (2017). She has exhibited widely including at the National Portrait Gallery, London, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery Edinburgh, and Street Level Photoworks, Glasgow.
From the series 'An Ordinary Eden' ©Margaret Mitchell
From the series 'An Ordinary Eden' ©Margaret Mitchell
Her book ‘Passage’ (Bluecoat Press, 2021) reflects on the nature of disadvantage and privilege in a study over three generations and includes the series Family and In This Place. Work has been acquired for the permanent collections of the National Galleries of Scotland, the Martin Parr Foundation and the University of Stirling Art Collection.
From the series ‘In This Place’ ©Margaret Mitchell
Based in Glasgow, Margaret was recognised as part of the Hundred Heroines initiative, acknowledging women who have made a significant contribution to photographic practice. She is also a member of both Women Photograph and Document Scotland.