Celine Marchbank is a British photographic artist from London. Her practice explores the quiet poetic intricacies of everyday life, capturing moments that resonate with vulnerability and resilience.
Her first book Tulip (Dewi Lewis 2016), the story of the last year of her mother’s life, was met with widespread critical acclaim. Named Photo Book of the Month by Sean O’Hagan in The Observer and Photo Book of The Week by Photo-Eye and featured in publications including The British Journal of Photography, BBC News, Creative Review, The Guardian, The Times Literary Supplement, The Independent, The Telegraph Magazine and Vanity Fair amongst others.
Her most recent book A Stranger in my Mother’s Kitchen (Dewi Lewis 2022), an intimate exploration into the grieving process after her mother’s death told through tender and poetic photographs, writings on grief and her mother’s recipe archive. Nominated for the Kraszna-Krausz Photo Book Awards 2023 and exhibited at The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and Photo London 2023 and featured in The Financial Times (FT Magazine) & The Guardian newspaper.
Celine’s work is held in international collections including the Tate Gallery, The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A), The Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Wellcome Collection and the NHS permanent collection. Her work has won and been shortlisted for numerous awards including; The Kraszna-Krausz Book Award, The European Publishers Award for Photography, The Deutsche Bank Photography Award, Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers, Lucie Foundation Grant, Magenta Flash Forward Awards and Prix Virginia International Photography Prize for Women.
She is a lecturer in photography at the Institute of Photography at Falmouth University in Cornwall, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Art (RSA), based between Cornwall and London.
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AWARDS & COMMISSIONS
2023 Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards Shortlisted
2022 London Institute of Medical Sciences, Imperial College London Commissioned artist
2020 The Nationwide Degree Show Award Invited Judge & Curator
2020 Arts Council England - Emergency Response Grant
2019 Artquest Peer Forum at The Photographers' Gallery Participating artist
2018 CONNECT Brighton NHS Trust Public Arts Programme Commissioned artist
2018 209 Women in Parliament Commissioned artist
2018 University research funding - awarded for two projects
2017 Julia Margaret Cameron Award for Women Photographers Category winner
2017 Pink Lady Food Photographer of The Year Award Highly Commended
2016 Creative Review Photography Annual Category winner
2016 Prix Virginia International Prize for Women Jury's Selection
2016 Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts (RSA) Invited
2016 Leica Akademie Ambassador Invited
2013 Magenta Flash Forward Awards Honourable Mention
2011 Hereford Photography Festival Open Here Award Winner
2011 European Publishers Award Shortlisted
2011 Deutsche Bank Photography Award Shortlisted
2011 International Photography Award Emergentes DST Finalist
2011 LUCIE Foundation Scholarship Shortlisted
2011 Artist residency Pittenweem, Scotland
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Witness/Memory/Recall,V&A Photography Centre, Victoria & Albert Museum, London Group show
2023 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Kraszna-Krausz Book Awards, Photo London Group show
2022 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen, Family Ties Network, UCA Farnham Group show
2020 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen The Royal Academy of Art Summer Exhibition
2019 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Open Walls British Journal of Photography, Les Rencontres d’Arles, France Group show
2019 209 Women Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool Group show
2019 isle collective, Hotel Elephant, London Group show
2018 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Hull International Festival Solo show
2018 209 Women Portcullis House Houses of Parliament Group show
2018 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Celebration of Women's Photography, Museum of Photography Ireland Screening
2018 Tulip Family of No Man, Cosmos, Rencontres d’Arles, France Group show
2018 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Photoworks Presents: Collaborate, Truman Brewery Group show
2018 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Photo Scratch, London Group show
2017 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Salon/17 Photofusion, London Group show
2017 Tulip VIA Summer Exhibition Francesca Maffeo Gallery, Essex Group show
2017 Tulip Athens Photo Festival Benaki Gallery, Greece Group show
2017 Tulip Carlisle Photo Festival University of Cumbria Group show
2017 Tulip & A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen FIX Festival Bargehouse, London Group show
2017 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Food Photographer of Year Award, Mall Galleries
2017 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Free Space Project, London Group show
2017 24 Hours Soho Square Gardens, London Group show
2016 Tulip Prix Virginia International Prize for Women, Paris Award show
2016 Tulip Offprint Tate Modern, London Book show
2016 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Photo Scratch, Ugly Duck London Group show
2016 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen Salon/16, Photofushion, London Group show
2016 Tulip Photo-Forum end of year show, Printspace, London Group show
2016 Tulip Felifa Book Awards Buenos Aires, Argentina Group show
2016 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen, LIP Espacio Gallery, London Group show
2016 Tulip Book Awards 2016 Les Rencontres d’Arles, France Group show
2016 The Swap Portrait Salon The Reminders Stronghold Gallery, Tokyo Group show
2015 The Swap Portrait Salon Embassy Tea Rooms Gallery, London Group show
2015 Greys LIP Annual Show Embassy Tea Rooms Gallery, London Group show
2015 Greys NCM Exposed, Photofusion, London Group show
2015 Bleeding London Royal Photographic Society, City Hall, London Group show
2014 The Wye Photobookshow H Doomed Gallery, London Group show
2014 The Wye Photofusion Salon/14 annual show, Photofusion, London Group show
2014 Notes from a small island East Neuk Collective, Pittenweem Arts Festival, Group show
2014 Notes from a small island The Drawing Room, Peckham Group show
2013 The Wye Hereford Photography Festival Solo show
2013 The Wye Magenta Flash Forward, London Group show
2013 Notes from a (very) small island Oxford House Gallery, London Group show
2012 The Wye The Art Collective, The Affordable Art Fair, London Group show
2012 Tulip Photobookshow D, The Finnish Museum of Photography, Helsinki Book show
2012 Washing the Weem LIP Annual, Strand Gallery, London Group show
2012 Tulip Firecracker: Lives of Others, London Festival of Photography Group show
2012 Washing the Weem, Pittenweem Arts Festival, Scotland Artist residency show
2012 Tulip Photobookshow B Ground Floor Left Gallery, London Group show
2012 Swimmers The Art Collective Bloomsbury Art Fair, London Group show
2012 Swimmers The Art Collective Corner Gallery, Brighton Group show
2012 Swimmers The Gowlett, Peckham, London Solo Show
2011 Tulip Hereford Photography Festival HotShoe Gallery, London Group show
2011 Swimmers Open Here Award Hereford Photography Festival Group show
2011 Tulip London Independent Photography Proud Central Gallery Group show
2011 Tulip European Publishers Award night Les Rencontres d’Arles, France Screening
2011 Tulip International Photography Award Encontros da Imagem festival, Portugal
2010 Uncommon Ground MA Degree Show, London College of Communication
2010 I Heart Street Photo So Shoot Me collective, The Book Club, Shoreditch Group show
BOOKS
2022 A Stranger in My Mother's Kitchen, Dewi Lewis Publishing Monograph
2016 Tulip Dewi Lewis Publishing Monograph
2025 Everyday Wonder by Sophie Howarth, Hoxton Mini Press Chapter
2025 New Photography of the Flower, Hoxton Mini Press Chapter
2020 London in Lockdown, Museum of London and Hoxton Mini Press Chapter
COLLECTIONS
The National Art Library, Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Kraszna-Krausz Foundation, London
Martin Parr Collection, Tate Library and Archive, Tate Britain, London
Wellcome Library, Wellcome Collection, London
Houses of Parliament Permanent Collection, UK
NHS Permanent Collection, UK
University of the Arts (UAL), London
The Hyman Foundation, British Centre of Photography, London
Ingalls Library and Museum Archives, Cleveland Museum of Art, USA
Library of Congress, Washington, USA
New York Public Library, USA
Harvard University, USA
Columbia University, USA
Stanford University, USA
Hong Kong University
Nanyang University, Singapore
State Library of New South Wales, Australia
TALKS & CONFERENCES
2024 Vestiges of Memory: Intersections between Photography and Autobiographical Memory, Conference, University for the Creative Arts (UCA) Invited speaker
2023 Kraszna-Krausz Foundation Award: Perspectives on Motherhood Symposium, V&A Museum
2021 Facing Death Creatively conference, St Christopher’s Hospice London Invited speaker
2020 Death Writes: Picturing Death and Dying conference, Glasgow Woman's Library, University of Glasgow Keynote
2020 Socially Engaged Practice, SEPN Network, OpenEye Gallery Liverpool Artist talk
2018 Photoworks: Meet The Artist talk with Helen Sear, Murray Ballard & Zoe Childley, Brighton University
2018 Mother by Celine Marchbank & Matthew Finn, PhotoForum, Printspace, London
2019 REF Staff Research Conference, Ravensbourne University London
2018 Hothouse Manchester, RedEye, International Anthony Burgess Foundation, Manchester Artist talk
2017 Ravensbourne University London Panel discussion
2017 Family Ties Network symposium, The University of Greenwich Invited speaker
2017 Francesca Maffeo Gallery, Essex Panel discussion
2017 FIX Photo Festival, Bargehouse OXO Tower, London Panel discussion
2017 Photofusion, London Artist talk
2016 Inside Out symposium, Free Space Project, London
2016 Metamorphosis conference, Hotel Elephant, London
EDUCATION
2010 MA Photojournalism & Documentary Photography, UAL London College of Communication Distinction
2002 BA (Hons) Graphic Design, University for the Creative Arts First class
2019 PGCE in Teaching and Learning for Creative Courses Distinction
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
Photoworks CONNECT Portfolio Celine Marchbank
Photoworks Showcase: Commissioned artist Celine Marchbank
British Journal of Photography Celine Marchbank depicts the passing of time & mortality
Loeil de la Photographie Celine Marchbank: A Stranger in my Mother's Kitchen
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
The Guardian In Pictures Tea, tulips and tenderness: my mother’s final days
Creative Review The Photography Annual
Photomonitor Book review by Anna McNay
PhotoVoice How Photography Helped me: Celine Marchbank
Ilpost, Italy A flower not to forget
L'Oeil de la Photographic Tulip, My Mother's favourite flower
The Independent Celine Marchbank, Tulip: My Mother’s Favourite Flower, book review
Vantage Tulip, My Mother’s Favourite Flower
TIME Lightbox Photo Editors inspiring photography showcase
Fleur & Arbor Q&A with Celine Marchbank
Shutterhub Photo books: our latest favourites - Summer 2017
Vanity Fair, Italy I photographed my mother's last days of life
Then There Was Us In Conversation with Celine Marchbank
Fragmentary - Interview with Celine Marchbank
The Plus Paper - Love, Loss and Catharsis
Royal Photographic Society - The Tulip Project
The Times Literary Supplement - Book review
Amateur Photography Magazine - Book review
B&W Photography Magazine - Book review