Kathryn Martin (b. 1972) is a British photographer whose work examines the relationships between people, place and the natural environment. She studied French at the University of Hull and then photography at the London College of Printing. From 2000, she spent more than a decade in London working as a documentary photographer, focusing on editorial and environmental subjects. During this period, she documented the relocation of Neal’s Yard Remedies from Battersea to Dorset, a commission that informed her ongoing interest in native plants. She also collaborated with environmental organisations on community projects responding to the aims of Agenda 21.
Martin now works from her studio in the South Downs. In 2021, she held her first solo exhibition, Come, See Real Flowers of This Painful World, at Egg, London. The project, a study of 49 native wildflowers collected during walks in 2019–20 was later shown at The Hillcrest Art Centre, Newhaven, with selected works displayed at Dover Street Market, London.
In 2022, she was commissioned by Photo Fringe to work with Newhaven residents and the local museum’s photographic archive to create large-scale outdoor collages exploring the idea of utopia. The following year she undertook a residency at Taigh Whin in the Scottish Highlands, where she developed Small Silent Voices, a series informed by the geology and native flora of the area.
Martin’s first book, Ossa, published in 2024 by Jane & Jeremy, focuses on the chalk landscape of Itford Hill in East Sussex. Works from the project were shown later that year in A Land Within, curated by Jane Kunze and presented alongside artists including Véronique Rolland, Rhiannon Adam, Alison Lloyd and Eric Hosking.
She has also contributed to projects with House Biennial and Photoworks, alongside her ongoing teaching, commissions and personal work.
