Mark Aitken

Mark Aitken, Ph.D is an artist and academic whose practice includes film, photography, writing and radio. His research concerns trauma of loss. Mark has creatively collaborated with subjects to produce emotionally resonant projects about loss of family, home, history and community. Working across different mediums over many years offers a body of work that is unified yet diverse and at home in cinemas, galleries, installations, bookshops and on radio.

Mark is currently researching a multi-media project about how humans, nature and animals coexist within the context of traumatic loss of habitat and wildlife. A feature documentary, Old beasts in a new world is in development; commissioned installations for upcoming arts residencies in Spain and a photos series in a primates sanctuary are being produced.

Mark’s award winning films engage empathetically with traumatised subjects. Broadcast internationally, subjects include a Mexican psychiatric hospital run by its own patients; a fearful white South African rural community; a Vietnamese refugee’s journey home and the loss of a community allotment in London.

Mark’s photo installation Sanctum Ephemeral and book about a community losing their homes will be exhibited in Girona in 2020. The series won the UK National Open Art 2017 and was published in national press and magazines. He’s published two photo-books and written for Aesthetica, Electric Sheep, Time Out, Photomonitor and Unmediated.

Teaching film practice since 1990, Mark founded a non-profit film education company in 2003 that produced over 40 films. Mark lectured at Goldsmiths, University of London for 11 years. He currently lectures at Central St Martins, London and offers creative consultancy to professionals. He was awarded his doctorate, Emotional truths in documentary making from Goldsmiths in 2019.

Mark produced a radio series on London’s Resonance fm for 15 years and continues radio production at independent station Dublab in Barcelona.