A photographer who loves the qualities of film, Zoe shoots predominantly with a medium format camera and handheld light meter
Zoë Barker is a photographer living and working on the Isle of Wight. Shooting predominantly on film with a medium format camera and handheld light meter, her meticulous approach allows her the time to appreciate the minutiae of our everyday world. Particularly drawn to domestic interiors, her images invite the viewer into a rarely-observed universe where interest and beauty can be found in the most ordinary of details – dirt splashed around a sink, finger prints on a light switch, peeling wallpaper.
Her most recent project has seen the development of a still life series. Documenting plastic rubbish found on local beaches, she ‘re-frames’ the objects that she finds in old tins. Once destined to break down slowly in the sea, these lost and broken items have been ‘rescued’ and given a new purpose, each composition creating something unexpected and surprisingly beautiful.
Zoë also spends time combining old and new technology in the darkroom, using digital negatives created in Photoshop to produce cyanotype prints (a chemical process invented in 1842).
She has exhibited widely and supplies images for Millennium Picture Library. Her work has appeared in a range of publications including The Independent Magazine, The Daily Telegraph, New Scientist, Evolver and multiple book covers.
