Bio


Mario is a photographer, curator and educator of Japanese descent, based in Manchester. He graduated from the Manchester School of Art in 2007 and has since continued to work on personal projects and commissions. In his personal work, his interests lie in man’s often paradoxical relationship to the natural environment and how this finds expression in the post-industrial areas of Britain and abroad.

His work has been exhibited and published in Britain and internationally, most recently at HOME (Manchester), Signal (Barrow in Furness) and in external exhibitions with Open Eye Gallery. He is currently developing long-term projects in both the UK and Italy that explore place in the context of industrial legacy, nature and community and will embark on an artist’s residency in Wigan with Open Eye Gallery, in spring 2023.

As a freelance curator, Mario has led and curated on the production of a number of contemporary photography exhibitions in the North, working with and alongside organisations such as Open Eye Gallery, Impressions Gallery, HOME Manchester and Castlefield Gallery.





Email: mariopopham@gmail.com
Telephone: +44(0)7940 913666
Instagram: @mariopopham





Exhibitions

Seaside Terminus, West Coast Photo, Signal, Barraow-in-Furness, 2021

Of Flesh and Stone, Granada Galleries, HOME, Manchester, 2018

Shaped by Stone, ‘On the Stony Path’ Group Exhibition, GroundWork Gallery, Norfolk, 2017

Shaped by Stone, ’Northern Light’ group exhibition, SIA Gallery, Sheffield, 2016

Shaped by Stone, Jack Sevens Gallery & Teggs Nose Visitors Centre, Macclesfield 2016

Looking Glass, ’Transition’group exhibition, PS Mirabel Gallery, Manchester, 2016

Enduring Growth, ‘Inside Out’ group exhibition, Wuhan Province, China, 2015

Enduring Growth, Cornerhouse, Manchester, 2014

Track Record, Islington Mill, Manchester, 2011

Suburban Gothic, The Art Corner, Manchester, 2010

In the Shadow of Progress, Tarshito Studios, Rome, 2007

Observer Hodge Award, Guardian Newsroom, 2006

Nikon Discovery Awards, Olympia Centre, London, 2007

In the Shadow of Progress, Tarshito Studio, Rome, 2007


Awards

Grain Portfolio Prize, FORMAT Festival, 2023

ACE Grants For Arts – Awarded, 2019

ACE Grants For Arts – Awarded, 2017

Barnaby Arts Festival Commission – Winner , 2015

Tim Hetherington Trust Award – Nomination, 2014

Magenta Flash Forward Award – Winner, 2013

Nikon Discovery Awards – Shortlisted, 2007

Observer Hodge Award – Highly Commended, 2006


Clients

HOME, Manchester

The Independent

RNCM, Manchester

24/7 Theatre Festival

AG Photographic Journal

The British Council

Panos South Asia

Contact Theatre, Manchester

Random House Publications

Community Arts Northwest

Manifesto, Rome