Mark Power

Mark Power (born 1959) was fascinated with photography from a very young age. He made an enlarger from an upturned flowerpot, a domestic light bulb and a simple camera lens. His interest in photography probably began at this moment. However, he later went to art college to study life-drawing and painting instead.

Firstly, after graduating he travelled for two years around South-East Asia and Australia. To support himself Power tried a number jobs. While travelling Power began to realise he enjoyed using a camera more than a pencil and decided to ‘become a photographer’. So that’s what he did on his return to England, in 1983.

He then worked in the editorial and charity markets for nearly ten years before. But in 1992, he accepted a teaching post at the University of Brighton. Firstly as a Senior Lecturer and then as the Professor of Photography. This is a position he held until he finally left education in 2017. This role coincided with a shift towards long-term, self initiated projects which now sit comfortably alongside a number of large-scale commissions in the industrial sector. He is a member of Magnum, after joining as a nominee in 2002 and becoming a full member in 2007.

He is the author of eight different monographs which include: The Shipping Forecast (1996), Superstructure and The Sound of Two Songs (2010). Power is currently working on a five-volume body of work about the American landscape called Good Morning America.