Bio

Michelle Sank was born in South Africa and settled in the UK in 1987. She grew up during Apartheid and is the daughter of immigrants. She cites this background as informing her interest in sub-cultures and the exploration of contemporary social issues and challenges. Her crafted portraits meld place and person creating sociological, visual and psychological landscapes and narratives. Her photographs have been exhibited and published extensively in the UK, Europe, Australia and Mexico, South Africa and the U.S.A. Her imagery is held in the permanent collections of Allan Servais, Brussells, Open Eye Gallery Archive, Liverpool, Societe Jersiaise and Guernsey Museum, Channel Islands, Southeast Museum of Photography, Florida and The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Texas, RAMM, Exeter and The Museum of Youth Culture, UK. She has undertaken continuous commissions and residencies for prominent galleries and magazines in Europe and the USA and her work has won awards in numerous prestigious competitions including the Taylor Wessing Prize and the British Journal of Photography. She was recently a winner in The Portrait of Britain 2020 and the Photo Review international competition, and is a recipient of the Rapid Response Fund, The Contemporary Arts Society for purchase of work from the series made in the Burnthouse Lane area for exhibition at The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter. She has recently been awarded a Fellowship with Distinction from The Royal Photographic Society. Sank has four published books, The Water's Edge: Women on the Waterfront (Published by Liverpool University Press) - a study of women who worked and still work on Liverpool's Docks, Becoming: (Published by Belfast Exposed Photography and Ffotogallery,) - a major monograph featuring her youth portraits taken over five years accompanied by an essay by David Goldblatt The Submerged: about the landscape and inhabitants of Aberystwyth, Wales accompanied by an essay by Liz Wells (Published by Schilt Publishing) and My.Self: about the cultural identity amongst diverse young people in the Black Country – UK (Published by Multistory) A new book of work made in the community and area of Burnthouse Lane will be published in Autumn this year. www.michellesank.com Instagram: sank_michelle Facebook: Michelle Sank