The work of Magnum photographer Mark Power - who covered the fall of the Berlin Wall and won a prestigious award for his interpretation of the Shipping Forecast - is the subject of a major exhibition at Cambridge University.

‘Signs: Photographs by Mark Power’, which opens at Churchill College on April 10, is a panoramic overview of his eclectic and groundbreaking work over the last 20 years.

However, in a twist to conventional procedure, the images on display have actually been chosen by a scientist - Dr Jorge Calado, Professor of Chemical Physics at the Technical University of Lisbon.

Previously shown at the Calouste Gulbenkian Cultural Centre in Paris, the show features 40 of Power’s greatest photographs.

Churchill spokesman Barry Phipps said: “As photography is a medium that bridges art and science, Churchill College is the perfect place to host this ground-breaking exhibition.

“The show brings together a series of images produced by a leading photographer which have been selected by an imaginative scientist. The result is a range of photographs that are beautifully composed, thought-provoking and poetic.”

Power, who is a member of Magnum Photos and Professor of Photography at the University of Brighton, is perhaps best known for his first major project, The Shipping Forecast.

It was a poetic response to the Met Office’s weather forecast, broadcast daily on BBC Radio 4, and won him the Yann Geffroy International Documentary Prize and the Mosaique European Photography Award among others.

Power has also worked on large commissions from the industrial sector including the construction of the Millennium Dome, and the refurbishment of HM Treasury.

Siân Ede, Arts Director of the UK Branch of the Gulbenkian Foundation, said: “Mark Power has an eye for the bizarre and beautiful and his photographs capture an essence of incidental life from odd corners of the world.

“We are delighted to have a chance to present his work at Churchill College where it will attract a discerning audience.”

Curator Dr Jorge Calado has been responsible for more than 20 international exhibitions of photography, including large-format photographs from works in 18 nations, from Finland to Brazil and from the United States to Japan.

The free exhibition is at Churchill from April 10 to May 18. It is open to the public from 9am-5pm weekdays and 10am-4pm at weekends.

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