Mark Power was born in the United Kingdom in 1959. This painter turned photographer creates well crafted images with a large-format camera that cover a wide range of topics usually over long spans of time. His well rounded knowledge that is the byproduct of his time as a Professor of Photography at the University of Brighton from 2004 to 2017 and becoming a full member of Magnum in 2007 has given him the ability to pursue informed and considered work that has revealed itself in 14 published books.

On the verge of quitting photography, Power received £200 from a supportive acquaintance and flew to Berlin on November 9, 1989, hoping to document life in the Eastern Bloc. After arriving and walking near Checkpoint Charlie, he heard a rumor that the Berlin Wall would open that night. In disbelief, he and a fellow photographer rushed back to grab their gear and return to capture the moment.

As the crowd grew outside the Wall, they pushed to the front. By midnight, the gates opened and East Germans began pouring into the West. Power was swept through the door into no-man’s land, where confused guards stood by. He described it as feeling like he’d crashed a party he wasn’t invited to.

Knowing he was witnessing history, Power worked quickly to document the moment. The next morning, he returned to find urgent messages and sent off his negatives for publication. As the press arrived, he focused on lesser-seen scenes, creating a distinct body of work. He later reflected, “By accident, I’d become a news photographer,” a role that cleared his debts, brought demand, and eventually led him to teaching.

Although he has created a number of notable series another that stands out is Good Morning, America. It’s meant to discover what kind of photography can be produced when a British perspective that has been intertwined with American culture is given firsthand experiences within the United States over a period of years.

The series now has four volumes. It began when Power worked on a Magnum series titled Postcards from America that pushed members of the group to collaborate while finding unique ways to cover a central topic. For Mark to participate he says, “I began – although I may not have realized it at the time – to search for the America which lived in my imagination, the one generated during childhood, the one that had probably never existed at all.” What began as part of Postcards from America blossomed into Good Morning, America, the series that has now been constructed by Mark for over twelve years—in terms of capturing the photos. The first printed volume of this series saw its release in 2018, with a wider release in 2019.

Mark claims his British background and accent have played a part in his unique experience within the United States by granting him interactions he wouldn’t have had otherwise with locals in small towns often bewildered as to why he has come to their part of the country when he could be anywhere else, it’s brought him to places he may not have had access to otherwise, and he claims it has kept him out of danger in situations that got a little touch and go. “It’s so different from working at home, in the UK, where I have a deeper understanding of why things are as they are. But, on balance, I quite like being from somewhere else. Remember, I’m seeing America through the filter of an imposing cultural legacy that helped define me. As such, it’s a strange mix of the familiar and unfamiliar, of fact and of fiction.”

Power expects to spend four more years completing this five-volume project, which he hopes will one day be seen as “an important comment on America.” Shot from a distance using a tripod, the photos capture wide open landscapes found through hours of walking. Though subtle, Power believes these quiet images express the same human issues seen in louder, urban scenes—just in a different way.