011 - Olivia Arthur
© Olivia Arthur
Olivia Arthur was born in London and grew up in the UK. She studied mathematics at Oxford University, where she decided to become a photographer. She went on to study photojournalism at the London College of Printing before then moving to India with her family, where she was based for two and a half years and where she learnt to take pictures.
In 2006 she left for Italy to take up a one-year residency with Fabrica, the organisation funded by Benetton, during which time she began working on a series about women and the East-West cultural divide: The Middle Distance. This work took her to Turkey, the border between Europe and Asia, Iran and then Saudi Arabia, where she went to teach a workshop for women and where she made the pictures for her first book Jeddah Diaries - about the lives of some of the young women she got to know there - which was was published in 2012.
During all this she won the Inge Morath Award which prompted her to apply for Magnum photos. She was accepted as a nominee and became a full member five years later.
Her second book, Stranger is a journey into Dubai seen through the eyes of the survivor of a shipwreck.
In 2010, with her husband, Philipp Ebeling, who is also a photographer, she co-founded Fishbar, a gallery / photo bookshop / photography space and photobook imprint.
In episode 011 Olivia discusses:
A Mathematics degree at Oxford to Photojournalism at LCP
Learning to take pictures in India
A residency in Italy with Fabrica
The Middle Distance project
Saudi Arabia: Jeddah Diaries
Magnum Photos
Parenthood
Fishbar
“The challenge to depict a hidden subject can be solved the moment one abandons the battle against restraint.”
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