Her books include Somerset Stories, Fivepenny Dreams (2008), Glastonbury, Another Stage (2010), Mulberry 40 Years (2011) and Eight Days (2012).
Dearden had a solo exhibition of her Glastonbury photographs at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 2010 and was awarded the Vic Odden Award from the Royal Photographic Society in 2011.
[3] She has an MA in Anthropology, Comparative Religion and History of Art from the University of Edinburgh (1998)[citation needed] and undertook postgraduate studies in Photojournalism at the London College of Printing (1999–2000).
[3][better source needed] Her photographs of local families living close to the land first brought her work to international attention in 2008, on publication of her book Somerset Stories, Fivepenny Dreams, which took six years to make.
[4] In 2011 Dearden undertook a two-year commission from Mulberry to shoot a book celebrating the company's 40th anniversary.