Kirsty Mackay
Kirsty Mackay is a Scottish documentary photographer living in Bristol. Her first book is My Favourite Colour Was Yellow (2017). In 2017 Mackay won the Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award.
Kirsty Mackay
- Name
- Kirsty Mackay
- Birthplace
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Education
- University of Wales, Newport
- Field
- photography
- Awards
- Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award (2017)
- Nationality
- United Kingdom
- Occupation
- photographer
- Languages
- English
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Kirsty Mackay is a Scottish documentary photographer living in Bristol. Her first book is My Favourite Colour Was Yellow (2017). In 2017 Mackay won the Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award.
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Kirsty Mackay was a photographer, of British nationality. The photographer was born in Glasgow.
Kirsty Mackay was educated at Bispham High School Arts College and University of Wales, Newport. Activity centred on photography. Languages used include English.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Kirsty Mackay • Birthplace — Glasgow, Scotland • Education — University of Wales, Newport • Field — photography • Awards — Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award (2017)
Life and work
Life and work
Mackay was born in Glasgow. She studied photography at Glasgow College before leaving for New York City and London, to work as a photographer's assistant. She gained an MA in Documentary Photography from the University of Wales, Newport. Mackay's first photo-book, the self-published My Favourite Colour Was Yellow (2017), documents the bias for the colour pink amongst girls in the UK. In 2017 Mackay won the Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award, mentoring and a bursary of £1250 to help in making her project The Fish that Never Swam. The award is to help early-career photographers develop their careers. Mackay's project is in response to the Glasgow effect, "the impact housing and overcrowding has on the life expectancy of Glaswegians".
Publications
• My Favourite Colour Was Yellow. Self-published, 2017. With an essay by Jo B. Paoletti, "Generation Pink". Edition of 200 copies.. • The Fish That Never Swam. Self-published, 2021. With an abridged version of the "History, politics and vulnerability: explaining excess mortality" report by the Glasgow Centre for Population Health. Edition of 500 copies.. • The Magic Money Tree. London: Bluecoat, 2024.. With an afterword by Jem Bartholomew.
Awards
• 2017: Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Katherine Pomerantz. The 34 female photographers you should follow right now. Time. 6 March 2017.
- 2.'Glasgow effect' photographer wins award. BBC News. 12 December 2017.
- 3.Diane Smyth. Photobook: My Favourite Colour Was Yellow by Kirsty MacKay. British Journal of Photography.
- 4.Kirsty Mackay, United Kingdom.
- 5.Priscilla Frank. The intense relationship between little girls and the color pink. HuffPost UK. 20 February 2015.
- 6.Julie Kliegman. A photographer made a powerful photo series about how pink is marketed to girls. BuzzFeed.
- 7.Agnès Gautheron. Marquées au fer rose. Le Monde.
- 8.Kirsty Mackay wins the second Rebecca Vassie Memorial Award. Rebecca Vassie Trust. 11 December 2017.
- 9.Mackay, Kirsty. The Glasgow Effect: examining the city's life expectancy gap – a photo essay. The Guardian. 26 February 2021.
- 10.David Walsh, Gerry McCartney. History, politics and vulnerability: explaining excess mortality. Glasgow Centre for Population Health.
- 11.Kirsty Mackay's new book explores the realities of poverty. Creative Review. 2025-01-06.
- 12.Arts News: Spectra returns to Aberdeen, photographer wins prize to study 'Glasgow Effect', SYT recuits 2018 company. HeraldScotland. 12 December 2017.
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