'Stop Tanks With Books': A Discussion With Mark Neville
Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2020 shortlisted British artist Mark Neville moved home and studio from London to live in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 2020. He made his book project ‘Stop Tanks With Books’ before the war started in an attempt to galvanise Western support for Ukraine’s fight for independence. In a targeted dissemination, 750 copies of the book were sent out to politicians, diplomats, celebrities - everyone he felt could help prevent the war and deter Russian aggression. Amongst other things he prophetically urged for a fast-track membership for Ukraine of NATO and EU.
The book is published by Nazraeli Press and also distributed by Setanta Books.
About Mark Neville
Mark Neville works at the intersection of art and documentary, investigating the social function of photography. He makes lens-based works which have been realised and disseminated in a large array of contexts, as both still and moving image pieces, slideshows, films, and giveaway books. His work has consistently looked to subvert the traditional role of social documentary practice, seeking to find new ways to empower the position of its subject over that of the author. Often working with closely knit communities, in a collaborative process intended to be of direct, practical benefit to the subject, his photographic projects to date have frequently made the towns he portrays the primary audience for the work.
Neville has had major solo shows of his work at the Imperial War Museum, London, the Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, The Photographers’ Gallery, the Multimedia Art Museum of Moscow, the Foundling Museum, London, QUAD, Derby, and featured in numerous group shows at venues including Haus Der Kunst, Tate Britain, and Jeu de Paume. The first commercially available monograph on his work ‘Fancy Pictures’ was published by Steidl and was nominated for both the Time Magazine Photo book of the Year 2017, and the Aperture Photo book Award 2017. His previous book Parade was shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2020, and he was nominated by the New York Times Magazine for the Pulitzer Prize in 2013. His work is in many major public and private collections internationally. Neville continues to be based in Kyiv, Ukraine.