Emerging Artists 2008

Emerging Artists 2008

OLIVIA ARTHUR

oliviaarthur.com

I first encountered Olivia Arthur's work at the Joop Swart Masterclass last year. Looking at the work of the 12 selected students, I was immediately drawn to the sophisticated geometry she uses to construct many of her images, as well as her astute understanding of how the female form can be both seductive and powerful. She shows a sensitivity to this power that never borders on the voyeuristic; her images can be gentle even when the subject matter is not. Arthur, 28, studied photojournalism at the London College of Communication and was a scholarship student at La Fabrica in Italy. These studies intertwine in her work as she combines a sensitivity to the "look" of a photograph with the ability to report and tell a story. I admire photographers who choose subject matter that is not immediately obvious. It's sometimes too easy to get good shots of extreme human situations; the real skill of a photojournalist is to concentrate

on a story that is a little more nebulous, like Arthur's long-term projects The Middle Distance and Iran: Beyond the Veil. I hope to see their true strength recognized in book form, with the space for them to meander slowly and their themes to reverberate. -- S.B.