Celine Marchbank is a British photographic artist and author whose practice explores memory, loss, family and the emotional experiences embedded in everyday life. Working with photography, archive and text, her projects often develop over extended periods and draw upon autobiographical experience, domestic spaces and the traces people leave behind.
Her first monograph, Tulip (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2016), documents the final year of her mother’s life. The book received widespread critical acclaim and was named Photo Book of the Month by Sean O’Hagan in The Observer and Photo Book of the Week by Photo-Eye.
Her second monograph, A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen (Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2022), uses photography, writing and her mother’s recipe archive to explore grief through the act of cooking. The book was shortlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award and the work has been exhibited at Photo London, the V&A Photography Centre and FotoFest Biennial in Houston.
Celine’s work is held in public and institutional collections internationally, including the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Martin Parr Collection at Tate Library and Archive, Wellcome Collection, UK Parliament, the NHS, Museum of Fine Arts Houston and major university and research libraries in the UK and internationally.
Alongside her artistic practice, Celine is a senior lecturer in photography and mentor. She teaches at Falmouth University and regularly contributes to artist talks, workshops, conferences and photography education. Her teaching and mentoring centre on the development of authored photographic projects, editing and sequencing, photobooks, research and professional practice.
She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.
Selected CV
Current / Recent
2026
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, Photography and Culture - journal article
2026
Ten by Ten, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, Texas
2026
Encounters with Photobooks, Peckham 24, London - invited speaker
2025
James Barnor, The New York Times Magazine - Artist Questionnaire, editorial commission
2024
Witness / Memory / Recall, V&A Photography Centre, Victoria and Albert Museum, London
2024
Vestiges of Memory: Intersections between Photography and Autobiographical Memory, University for the Creative Arts - invited speaker
Books
2026
Encounters with Photobooks: How Art and Experience Matter, Briony Carlin
Leuven University Press
Featured artist: A Stranger in My Mother’s Kitchen
2025
Everyday Wonder, Sophie Howarth
Hoxton Mini Press
Contributing artist
2025
New Photography of the Flower
Hoxton Mini Press
Contributing artist
2022
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen
Dewi Lewis Publishing
Monograph
2016
Tulip
Dewi Lewis Publishing
Monograph
Selected Writing & Publications
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen. Photography and Culture journal, published 28 August 2026 - Read Article
Selected Awards & Commissions
2025
The New York Times Magazine - commissioned photographer
2023
Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award - shortlisted
2022
London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London - commissioned artist
2020
Arts Council England - Grant Funding
2018
CONNECT, Brighton & Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust / Photoworks - commissioned artist
2018
209 Women, UK Parliament - commissioned artist
2017
Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers - category winner
2016
Creative Review Photography Annual - category winner
2011
European Publishers Award for Photography - shortlisted
2011
Deutsche Bank Photography Award - shortlisted
Selected Teaching & Mentoring
2020–present
Senior Lecturer in Photography, Falmouth University
Previous teaching
University of the Arts London (LCC); University for the Creative Arts (Farnham); Norwich University of the Arts
Mentoring
Independent and institutional mentoring of photographers at different stages of practice, including project development, editing, sequencing and professional practice.
Selected Exhibitions
2026
Ten by Ten, FotoFest Biennial, Houston, Texas
2024
Witness / Memory / Recall, V&A Photography Centre, London
2023
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Awards, Photo London
2022
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, Family Ties Network, UCA Farnham
2020
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, London
2019
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, OpenWalls, British Journal of Photography / Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
2018
A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen, Hull International Photography Festival
2018
209 Women, Houses of Parliament, London
2018
Tulip, Family of No Man, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France
Selected Talks & Conferences
2026
Encounters with Photobooks: How Art and Experience Matter, Peckham 24, London, in conversation with Briony Carlin and Dafna Talmor, chaired by Duncan Wooldridge - invited speaker
2024
Vestiges of Memory: Intersections between Photography and Autobiographical Memory, University for the Creative Arts - invited speaker
2023
Perspectives on Motherhood, Kraszna-Krausz Foundation / V&A - invited speaker
2021
Facing Death Creatively, St Christopher’s Hospice - invited speaker
2020
Death Writes: Picturing Death and Dying, Glasgow Women’s Library - keynote speaker
2020
Socially Engaged Practice, Open Eye Gallery - artist talk
2018
Photoworks: Meet the Artist, Brighton - artist talk
Selected Collections
Victoria and Albert Museum, National Art Library, London
Martin Parr Collection, Tate Library and Archive, Tate Britain, London
Museum of Fine Arts Houston, USA
Wellcome Collection, London
UK Parliament Permanent Collection
NHS Permanent Collection
University of the Arts London
Hyman Foundation / British Centre for Photography
Library of Congress, Washington DC
New York Public Library
Harvard University
Columbia University
Stanford University
Selected Press
The Guardian Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Awards 2023 Longlist
FT Magazine Gallery featured artist: A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen
Photomonitor A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen: in conversation with Celine Marchbank
British Journal of Photography Celine Marchbank depicts the passing of time & mortality
BBC News My mother's favourite flower: A life remembered
The Observer's Photo Book of the Month by Sean O'Hagan. Tulip - a daughter’s floral tribute
The Guardian How I photographed my mother’s last days, by Homa Khaleeli
British Journal of Photography Tulip: Quiet Images of a Mother’s Struggle with Cancer
Photo-Eye Book of The Week Book of the Week: A Pick by Jordan Sullivan