Lisa Barnard (*1967) is a British artist, researcher and teacher whose photographic practice addresses real events using traditional documentary modes, alongside more contemporary visual and computer forms. Her work addresses the current political climate and the military-industrial complex; alongside perspectives of technological innovation, perception and new ecologies. Barnar combines her interest in aesthetics with multi-layered visual presentations. “Barnard describes herself as a photographic artist, but her work appears unmistakably political. It pays homage to the tropes of documentary realism while sabotaging them. – Sean O Hagan, The Guardian, reviewer for Chateau Despair. Barnard’s work has been exhibited widely in museums and at photo festivals and is an Associate Professor and Head of the Master’s Program in Documentary Photography at the University of South Wales. She has published four monographs, including two with GOST ‘Chateau Despair,’ (supported by the Arts Council); ‘Hyenas of the Battlefield, and Machines in the Garden’, (winner of the Albert Renger-Patzsch Prize) and ‘The Canary and the Hammer’ (Winner of the Getty Prestige Images Award), published by MACK in 2019. Her most recent publication You Only Look Once’ is published by Hartmann. Barnard has been the recipient of a number of awards, most recently the winner of the CRESPO AFTER NATURE 2025.
Lisa Barnard
The Canary and the Hammer
Photographed across four years and four continents, The Canary and The Hammer details our reverence for gold and its role in humanity’s ruthless pursuit of progress. Through a mix of image, text and archival material, this project by British artist Lisa Barnard provides a fascinating insight into the troubled history of gold and the complex ways it intersects with the global economy. Gold is ubiquitous in modern life; the mineral is concealed at the heart of much of the technology we use and is, most fundamentally, a potent symbol of value, beauty, purity, greed and political power. The Canary and The Hammer strives to connect these disparate stories—from the mania of the gold rush and the brutal world of modern mining, to the sexual politics of the industry and gold’s often dark but indispensable role at the heart of high-tech industry. Prompted by the financial crisis of 2008 and its stark reminder of the global west’s determination to accumulate wealth, Barnard sets out to question gold’s continued status as economic barometer amidst new intangible forms of technological high—finance. By addressing this through photography, Barnard in turn raises the question of how her chosen medium can respond to such abstract events and concepts. The result is an ambitious project, one sketching a personal journey in which she ultimately tackles the complexity of material representation in these fragmented and troubling times. The project was published by MACK in 2019.