Mandy Barker. Plastic Soup

The work of award-winning photographer, Mandy Barker, is created to raise awareness of marine plastic pollution and has received global recognition. This is its first showing in London of Plastic Soup which was initially staged by the National Trust at Laycock Abbey. In this immersive exhibition Barker uses visual interpretation and scientific collaboration to inspire people into action in tackling this global environmental problem.

‘Soup’ is a description given by scientists to plastic debris suspended in the sea, and with particular reference to the mass accumulation that exists in an area of The North Pacific Ocean known as the Garbage Patch. The series of images aims to stimulate an emotional response in the viewer by combining a contradiction between initial aesthetic attraction and social awareness. The sequence reveals a narrative concerning oceanic plastics from initial attraction and attempted ingestion, to the ultimate death of sea creatures and representing the disturbing statistics of dispersed plastics having no boundaries. All the plastics photographed have been salvaged from beaches around the world and represent a global collection of debris that has existed for varying amounts of time in the world’s oceans. The captions record the plastic ingredients in each image providing the viewer with the realisation and facts of what exists in the sea.