Fancy Pictures showcases six socially engaged projects by Mark Neville from the past decade, highlighting his immersive approach to documenting tight-knit working communities. The Port Glasgow Book Project (2004) features social documentary images of the Scottish town, with copies distributed directly to its 8,000 residents, never sold commercially. In another Scottish endeavor, Neville spent 18 months living and working with the farming community on the Isle of Bute. Deeds Not Words (2011) focuses on Corby, an English town grappling with industrial pollution, combining photographs and scientific data into a book given to the environmental health services of all 433 local councils in the UK. In 2011, Neville served as an official war artist in Helmand, Afghanistan, creating stills and 16mm films that captured the experiences of young Afghanis living under military occupation. Two projects from the USA are also featured; one, commissioned by the Andy Warhol Museum in 2012, examines the legacy of Pittsburgh's steel industry through contemporary issues of class and race. The photo essay Here is London, commissioned by the New York Times Magazine, draws inspiration from the iconic photographers who chronicled the economic shifts of the 70s and 80s.
