Caroline Irby is a British photographer specialising in documentary and portraiture, with a focus on themes of identity, childhood and migration.
For over twenty years, she has worked on assignments for publications including The Observer, Guardian, Sunday Times, Telegraph, Financial Times, Economist, Newsweek, Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar, as well as for UNHCR and UNICEF.
Rooted in the belief that photography can connect people and provoke dialogue, Caroline’s work links disparate worlds through compelling visual narratives. Her practice is characterised by a deep sensitivity to light, an empathetic lens and an attentiveness to the complexity of human experience. Often working on long-term, relationship-based projects, she uses photography to explore personal stories that echo wider social issues.
Her work has been exhibited worldwide, including at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Somerset House and Royal Festival Hall in London; National Parliament in Uganda; World Children’s Art Museum in Japan; and is held in the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.
Caroline has worked as a contributing editor for Newsweek Magazine, had a column in the Guardian Magazine (‘Seen and Heard’), and published two books: A Child from Everywhere (Black Dog, 2010), which features portraits and interviews with children from 185 countries who have migrated to the UK, and Someone Else’s Mother (Schilt, 2020), which tells the intimate story of Juning, a Filipina woman who lived with Caroline’s family in London for 22 years, and of the four children she had to leave behind. Caroline is currently working on her third book, which will be published by Schilt in 2027.
Throughout her career, Caroline has documented humanitarian stories and conflict zones, built a strong practice in advertising, and continued to develop deeply personal, narrative-driven projects.
‘Irby has managed successfully to tread the line between voyeuristic intrusion and misplaced sentimentality… Her work contains great tension and emotional charge.’ The Times
Solo Exhibitions
Claiming a New Place on Earth, Protein Studios, London, UK, 2017
Freedom is not Easy, The Proud Archivist, London, UK, 2016
Like Riding a Bike, Westbank Gallery, London, UK, 2011
Words and Pictures – What we Learn from Children, Arts Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan, 2011
Words and Pictures – What we Learn from Children, World Children’s Art Museum, Okazaki, Japan, 2010
A Child from Everywhere, Young V&A, London, UK, 2010
A Child from Everywhere, Bubble – Islington, London, UK, 2010
Cloudesley Children at Home, Richard Cloudesley School, London, UK, 2009
Is Your Neighbour Killing You?, National Parliament, Kampala, Uganda, 2007
Walk with Joyce, The Spitz Gallery, London, UK, 2005
Walk with Joyce, G8 summit, Edinburgh, UK, 2005
Firefly, Scottish Arts Centre, Edinburgh, UK, 2001
Group Exhibitions
The Syngenta Photography Award, Somerset House, London, UK, 2013
Commonwealth Photographic Awards, touring exhibition, various countries, 2007
The World Can’t Wait, Southbank, London, UK, 2007
Document, SS Robin Gallery, London, UK, 2006
Photovoice Auction, Reuters, London, UK, 2005
MSF Darfur Fundraising Exhibition, 54 The Gallery, London, UK, 2004
Click: A Celebration of Sight, The Oxo Gallery, London, UK, 2004
Modern Day Slavery, UNHCR, Geneva, Switzerland, 2004
BBC Music Photography Award, Royal Festival Hall, London, UK, 2002
Publications
Someone Else’s Mother, Schilt Publishing, 2020
A Child from Everywhere, Black Dog Publishing, 2008
Walk with Joyce, Tearfund, 2005
Group book projects
UK at Home, Against All Odds Productions, 2008
Our World of Water, Frances Lincoln Press, 2008
Editorial clients
Corriere dela Serra, Italy
De Standaard, Belgium
Economist
Elle
Financial Times Magazine
Foto 8
Globe and Mail, Canada
Grazia
Guardian Weekend Magazine
Harper’s Bazaar
Independent
It’s Nice That
Mainichi, Japan
Marie Claire
Newsweek
Nouvel Observateur, France
Observer Food Monthly
Observer Magazine
Positive News
Prospect Magazine
Psychologies Magazine
Refinery 29
Rolling Stone
Sunday Herald Magazine
Sunday Times Magazine
Telegraph Magazine
Time Out
Vogue
Commercial clients
Aberdeen Asset Management
Airbnb
Blackheath High GDST
British Telecom
Burberry
Canary Wharf
Canon
Channel 4
DFS
Dorling Kindersley
Eleven Film
Enjoy Education
Fostering Network
Fred Olsen
Greenberry Kids
Harley Street Clinic
Healthcare Locums
Iris Fashion
Hipp Organic Baby Milk
Investec
Jacobs
JP Morgan
Kensington Preparatory School
Lumi
Macmillan Publishing
Man Group
Mayer Brown
National Trust
Nights by Wilder
Ofsted
Olivier London
Open University
Packington Moor
Persil
Polar Post
Raiz Atelier
Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Tesco
Their Nibs
Tigerlily Films
Urban Merino
Wild and Gorgeous
World Circuit Records
NGO clients
British Heart Foundation
British Red Cross
Cafod
Cancer Research UK
CARE International
Concern
Farm Africa
Oxfam
Plan International
Save the Children
Sight Savers International
Tearfund
The IRC
UNHCR
UNICEF
Water Aid
World Wildlife Fund
Y-Care