About

Marsha's career in photography has spanned 25 years, with work published in books, magazines and newspapers in the UK and abroad. Her childhood ambition was to be a photo-journalist, and as soon as she was free to travel independently, she packed a camera in her rucksack and set off around Europe, spending four months meeting, interviewing and photographing people and places that intrigued her. In remote areas of Turkey she started to document the lives of local women, a subject always close to her heart.

Determined to focus on social issues, she enrolled at Newport School of Photography (now the University of South Wales at Cardiff) on a two-year documentary course, set up by David Hurn of Magnum Photo Agency, from 1989-91. Her work was seen by Marketa Luskova, a documentary photographer, who became her mentor and suggested she show her portfolio to the Daily Telegraph, who took her on as a staff photographer on news and features. During this time she developed her own projects, which she continued to do as a freelancer for the Observer and Guardian, Der Spiegel and Stern magazine. Her next step was covering women's issues for Marie Claire and ELLE. 


One of the most daunting commissions she undertook for Marie Claire was to photograph the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi’s female bodyguards in 1993. The dictator claimed to have women’s rights at his heart and vowed “to liberate the women of Libya in order to rescue them from a world of oppression and subjugation”. In reality, proof emerged in later years that thousands of young Libyan girls and women were kidnapped from their schools, homes or places of work, even from their own wedding ceremonies, to become his sex slaves.

For one year Marsha tried repeatedly to get permission from the Libyan embassy in London to photograph Gaddafi and his female bodyguards. At last her request was granted. Days and days were spent waiting in Tripoli for her appointment with Gaddafi to be confirmed. On several occasions she was driven into the desert by dubious looking men from Gaddafi’s cohort, on the pretext that she was being taken to their leader, but the sinister workings of Gaddafi’s circle soon became apparent. It was common practice for women selected by Gaddafi to be forcibly delivered up to him – after being blood-tested in case of a viral disease.

Marsha did eventually get the pictures she wanted, and escaped with her life, but minutes before flying out of Tripoli, her precious work (film in those days) was ripped from her camera and destroyed.

She changed direction to become a Photography Director working on Sky, Cosmo and Harpers & Queen. She helped to launch the Observer Food Magazine [2001] and, on moving to Herefordshire, specialised in food and lifestyle photography. She worked with Monty Don and his wife Sarah on the The Home Cookbook and Gardening at Longmeadow. She continues to work regularly with Monty and Sarah, her most recent collaboration having been the bestseller Nigel: My Family and Other Dogs.

Marsha is the official photographer for the annual Hay Festival of Literature and the Arts in Hay- on-Wye, Wales (hayfestival.com), during which she works with student photographers recruited and trained by her. She directs them in the requirements of the news desk and Festival departments, to represent the visual highlights of the 11-day festival. Their work, under her supervision, is made available to national press and is an invaluable resource for the Festival for marketing and publicity purposes. Marsha and her team work 12-14-hour days throughout – a festival initiative called Hay Academy, offering young people experience in a fast-paced, news-gathering environment.