Administrative/Biographical History

Melanie Friend was born in North London in 1957. She studied English at York University, and while working as a picture researcher at African Business magazine, became interested in photography. From 1982 she taught herself photography while working in a picture library and as a photographer’s assistant.

In 1983, she joined the picture agency Report as an apprentice photographer. During her time at Report, she began to photograph numerous demonstrations against the Thatcher regime. In 1984, Melanie left Report and decided to work as an independent photojournalist, working both in the UK and overseas. She produced photographs for publications such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Times Educational Supplement, as well as campaign groups such as CND, Greenpeace and various trade unions. While freelancing, Melanie studied for a BA in Photography at the Polytechnic Central London. Her final project was an exhibition titled, Mothers’ Pride, again influenced by the Thatcher regime, as it aimed to act as a counter to the criticism levelled at teenage mothers. In 1986, she joined the women’s photography agency, Format Photographers, and stayed a member until it closed in 2003.

In 1989, as a response to human rights violations in Kosovo, Melanie travelled there as a freelance journalist, radio reporter (for the BBC) and journalist (for The Guardian & others), to report and record events over the following decade. After the Berlin Wall came down in November 1989, and revolutions spread across Eastern Europe, Melanie also photographed extensively in Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Albania.

In 1994, Melanie moved away from photojournalism and started producing work specifically for books and galleries. This work mainly pursued social and political issues, with a particular focus on war, and its wider effects. Her exhibition Homes and Gardens: Documenting the Invisible (1996) documented the state violence in Kosovo in the years leading up to the war. Her subsequent book No Place Like Home: Echoes from Kosovo (2001) focused on the immediate aftermath of the war. After achieving an MA at the London College of Printing (now the London College of Communication) in 2003, Melanie obtained a permanent lectureship at the University of Sussex and continued this until 2019. Through this post, she received support towards her photography books and exhibitions. The exhibition Border Country (2007) used images and sound to document the experiences of asylum seekers (often refugees from war zones), in detention in the UK. Melanie’s work towards her exhibition and book The Home Front (2013) was prompted by the increasing militarism in public life; the work looked at the relationship between leisure and the military through a focus on the UK’s air shows. Her latest book, The Plain (2020) focuses on the military landscape of Salisbury Plain. Since leaving her job at the University of Sussex, Melanie gives talks about her practice, and is continuing to make work as a photographer.

For more information about Melanie and her photography please visit www.melaniefriend.com.

Selected works by Melanie Friend

Scope and content

Archive of photographer Melanie Friend, (b 1957), including: black and white photographic prints relating to CND demos and protests, Greenham Common, Greenpeace demo, social conditions, women’s refuges, refugees, schools and schooling, National Aids Trust with Princess Diana, Save the Children Patmore Project 1989, Church Urban Fund, Concordia Fruit Farms, Boston/Lincolnshire fens, construction of Battersea Peace Pagoda 1985, 1940s dance clubs, North East street scenes 1980s, snow in London 1991, portraits of various individuals, Albania 1990 &1996, Albanian refugees, Kosovo 1990s, Bulgaria 1990s, China 1986, Egypt 1984, Germany 1985, Berlin Wall at New Year 1989/90, Macedonia 1990s, Palestine 1984, Tibet 1986 and Yemen Arab Republic 1988; negatives and contact sheets from the UK and various countries (listed above); colour slides from Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Palestine & Israel, Poland, Portugal, India, Nepal, Burma, Germany (East & West), Tibet, Yemen Arab Republic/North Yemen, and Yugoslavia; press cuttings from a range of publications; papers and visual material from the exhibitions Homes and Gardens: Documenting the Invisible (1986), Prime of Life (1990) and Border Country (2003-07); reviews of exhibitions from various publications; solo publications; catalogues; and anthologies featuring Melanie Friend’s photography (c.1980-2022)

Please note that this collection is not yet complete. More exhibition material is expected to be deposited in 2023. For further information please contact: library@bishopsgate.org.uk