Mark Leary
About the researcher
Mark Leary is a visual artist, lecturer and PhD researcher.
His photographic-led research explores the everyday and how the commonplace is almost always overlooked for moments of grandeur - experimenting with the reimagining of the familiar through the aesthetic delivery. Using experimental photographic practices, Mark’s aim is to understand if a photograph’s subject can provoke reverie through association or if the reverie is established as a consequence of the presentation.
He holds a Postgraduate Certificate in Education, and a MA in Photography - where his research focused on the exploration of individuals’ journeys and their want for moments of solitude.
His current artistic research, ’The Pull of the Tide’, is centred around human connection to the sea and the impact of blue spaces on sense of self.
Mark has exhibited at numerous galleries and creative spaces over the last fifteen years - including The Photographers’ Gallery, London and The National Portrait Gallery, London - and spoken about his practice nationally, alongside creating award-winning fine art images, films, advertising campaigns, design & editorial works and the publication of two photographic art books - Made in China [2007]; Salt+Wax [2012].
Research interests
- Contemporary photographic practice
- History of photography
- Audience spectatorship
- Creative Collaboration
- Cultural Geography
- Sub and counter-cultural etymology and ethnography
- Visual Culture
PhD abstract
Thesis title
The Pull of the Tide: The Sensorial Experiences, Rituals and Everyday Fabric of a Surfer’s Life
Abstract
This practice-led research visually explores photography’s capacity to articulate new ways of seeing and experiencing sensorial, immersive, and lived experiences - through the act of surfing.
Examining how photographic reconsiderations can effectively represent why the ocean is a draw for many people and how that draw manifests itself through the ritual of surfing - exploring the interplay between immersion in water, space and place, and surfers’ cultural habits: shedding light on the lived experience as an activity, culture, identity, and practice, and, in turn, illuminating how these moments can be documented.
Qualifications
| Year | Qualification | Awarding body |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | PGCHE | University of Greenwich |
| 2019 | MA Photography | Arts University Bournemouth |
Professional Engagements
Exhibitions include:
- 'Salt+Wax' retrospective solo exhibition - The Station Gallery, Frome [2024]
- 'Salt+Wax' retrospective solo exhibition - ROMA Gallery, Falmouth [2023]
- ‘Suddenly Last Summer’ group exhibition - Arts University Bournemouth [2019]
- ‘Lucid’ group exhibition - Arts University Bournemouth [2019]
- 'Undertaking' solo exhibition - Various galleries, London [2017-18]
- 'They Made This' group exhibition - Protein Studios, London [2017]
- 'Summer Art Show' group exhibition - Old Bakery Studio, Truro, Cornwall [2016]
- 'Getty 6x6' group exhibition - Getty Gallery, London [2015]
- 'Getty Gather' group talk & presentation - London [2014]
- 'They Made This' group exhibition - BBH Gallery, London [2014]
- ‘Retrospective’ solo exhibition - BBH Gallery, London [2014]
- 'Salt+Wax' solo exhibition - 71a Gallery, London [2012]
- 'Salt+Wax' solo exhibition - London Surf Film Festival, London [2012]
- ‘Fish Fry’ group exhibition - Coombe Barton, Cornwall [2011]
- ‘Black Dog’ group exhibition - AMV Gallery, London [2010]
- 'Made in China' book launch - The Photographers' Gallery, London [2008]