Description

Olivia Arthur is known for her in-depth photography examining people and their personal and cultural identities. Much of her work has illuminated the daily lives of women living in countries as varied as Saudi Arabia, India and across Europe. Here, birds fly over the Bosporus straight in Istanbul.

For me, part of the power of still photography is the ambiguousness of pictures, the ability to give a hint about a scene or event without being too absolute

Olivia Arthur
© Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

Olivia Arthur was born in London and grew up in the UK. She studied mathematics at Oxford University and photojournalism at the London College of Printing and began working as a photographer in 2003 after moving to India, where she was based for two and a half years. “For me, part of the power of still photography is the ambiguousness of pictures, the ability to give a hint about a scene or event without being too absolute,” says Arthur.

Representation and the way we see ourselves are also areas of interest for Arthur, and her work has been shown in publications including The New Yorker, Vogue and TIME magazine among others. Her work has been exhibited internationally and has been included in institutional collections in the UK, USA, Germany and Switzerland.

© Olivia Arthur | Magnum Photos

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