4 days ago
Art that speaks for the sea: Mandy Barker's mission to end fast fashion waste
10:14
In this special edition for World Oceans Day, we spotlight the urgent, haunting work of Mandy Barker, the award-winning British photographic artist using sea-salvaged fashion waste to expose the truth about plastic pollution. Her cyanotype series "Photographs of British Algae: Cyanotype Imperfections" reimagines the work of 19th-century botanist Anna Atkins, replacing seaweed with clothing scraps collected from 121 beaches around the UK. The result is both poetic and jarring, earning praise from none other than Sir David Attenborough, who supports Barker's work for its power to inspire real change.
Also on the programme, we share the mesmerising photography of Jean Gaumy, an official naval artist and member of Magnum Photos, whose decades-long career documenting life at sea continues to shape how we see the ocea – from polar expeditions to submarine missions.
Together, their work is a wake-up call – and a visual love letter – to the world's most vital ecosystem.
