Open Theme nominee

The series is an exploration of parallels between Soviet and US nuclear weapon launch facilities, through photographic details. Comparisons of the designs and approaches expose the sides ethnologically and the minutiae are symbolic of greater political meaning. A humanized perspective and palpability reveal our complacency in addressing an ongoing, if psychological, war.

These photographs are an invitation to wonder at the systems of mutual deterrent and examine the understated reality of the veneer that protects us from an apocalypse. Shot on an 8x10 inch large format camera, the details of the articles pictured expose the decades of use that they have received. The traces of the crews’ work remain as fingerprints of a history that was almost as secretive and unknown to their opposite numbers as to the rest of the world.

All images were made using a Wista 8x10in Camera on Kodak 160nc Film.

Justin Barton is based in Shoreditch London in the UK.

His work focuses primarily on personal history and heritage. Seeking a deeper historiographic understanding he examines the objects and people in detail by photographing small elements and using the reflection of today to gleen unusual perspectives on the past.


Professional Awards

2015 KLPA Portrait Award (Shortlisted)
2015 Belfast Photo Festival (Selected)
2014 Moscow International Photography Awards (3rd Place Category)
2013 Lucie Foundation Emerging Photography Scholarship (Overall Winner)
2013 International Color Awards (1st Place Category)
2012 Photostory (Selected)
2012 RGB Awards (Selected)
2011 International Photography Awards (2nd Place Category)
2010 International Photography Awards (2nd Place Category)

Recent Interviews/Publications

2013 Wired
2013 Der Spiegel
2013 Its Nice That

Recent and Forthcoming Exhibitions

2015 KLPA – Portrait Award - KL Malaysia (Aug)
2015 Belfast Photofestival - Belfast NI (Jun)
2015 Silverprint Gallery - London UK (Feb)
2014 Singapore International Photo Festival - Singapore (Oct)
2014 Organ Vida Photo Festival - Zagreb Croatia(Sep)
2014 St Giles House Dorset UK (Aug)
2013 Museum Villa Stuck - Munich Germany (Sep)
2013 Organ Vida Photo Festival - Zagreb Croatia(Sep)
2013 Copenhaghen Photo Festival - Copenhagen Denmark (June)