Olivia Bee

Olivia Bolles (born 1994),[1] better known as Olivia Bee, is an American photographer.[2] Bee's book Kids in Love was published by Aperture in 2016.[3]

Olivia Bee
Born1994 (age 26–27)
Portland, Oregon, USA
OccupationPhotographer

Personal life

Bee is the daughter of a hairdresser mother and a high-tech worker. She grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she attended Da Vinci Arts Middle School.[4][5] She moved to Brooklyn, New York when she was 18 years old.[6]

Photography

Bee's interest in photography began at the age of 11 when she first took a photography class.[6] In 2013 she summarized her early work as "like, stuffed animals and a picture of my mom in the kitchen."[4] Afterwards, Bee began taking photos independently and uploading them to the image hosting website Flickr, where the footwear company Converse saw her work and asked her to photograph for their company.[6] Her work was used in an advertising campaign for Converse when she was 14.[7] Her work was also used in campaigns for Adidas, Fiat, Hermès, Levi Strauss & Co., Nike and Subaru, and published by The New York Times and Le Monde.[4][6][8] Bee decided to pursue photography as a full-time career after unsuccessfully applying to study at Cooper Union in New York City.[4]

Kurt Soller of New York described her work as "dreamy, seventies-inspired photographs of maybe-wasted, increasingly famous young people who just want to have fun, injected with ombré washes of color (often pink)",[4] while Kathy Sweeney of The Guardian observed that "Bee finds a dreamlike, innocent colour in her friends' gently dissolute experimentation."[6] In an interview with Paper Magazine, Bee characterized her work as "real, obsessive emotions put in a pop context."[9] The subjects in her photographs are often placed in the center of the frame.[4]

In 2011 she cited Ryan McGinley, Annie Leibovitz and Nan Goldin as influences,[10] and attributed her inspiration to her younger brother, mother and father's musical and artistic talents.[8]

Bee's book Kids in Love was published by Aperture in 2016.[3][11] The book is divided into two sections, one featuring predominantly staged shots and the other focusing on "slice of life" material.[3]

In 2018 she featured in the short film A Kid From Somewhere: Olivia Bee, directed by Paul Johnston and Adam Beck. The film depicts Bee's photographic process, focusing in part on a project completed in honour of her sister, who died before she was born.[12]

Publications
  • Kids in Love. New York City: Aperture, 2016. ISBN 978-1597113458. With an interview by Tavi Gevinson.

References
  1. Bee, Olivia (April 5, 2011). "seventeen". Olivia Bee. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  2. Kellner, Amy (November 23, 2011). "Our Teenage Photographer of Teenage Lust". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  3. Eckhardt, Stephanie (April 7, 2016). "With Kids in Love, Olivia Bee Is No Longer So Young". W. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  4. Soller, Kurt (February 9, 2013). "The Very Rapid Rise of the Very Precocious Photographer Olivia Bee". New York. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  5. Jones, Syndney; Hauth, Sophie (28 November 2016). "Capturing the Light". Grant Magazine. Retrieved 29 November 2016.
  6. Sweeney, Kathy (February 23, 2013). "Olivia Bee: 'People Don't take me seriously – until they see me work'". The Guardian. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
  7. House, Kelly (May 29, 2012). "Portland's Olivia Bolles, 18, attracts attention in professional photography world". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  8. Lanz, Desiree (July 23, 2011). "Young Photographer Succeeds At Snapping Away". Neon Tommy. Archived from the original on June 18, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  9. Sidell, Lainey (April 1, 2016). "Photographer Olivia Bee on Shooting "Kids in Love"". Paper Magazine. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
  10. Little, Myles (September 9, 2011). "Smells Like Teen Spirit: Tavi Gevinson Interviews Olivia Bee". Time. Retrieved June 18, 2012.
  11. Joiner, James (April 19, 2016). "How Olivia Bee spent her teenage years capturing the ephemeral spirit of youth". Huck. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  12. Farley, Rebecca (April 23, 2018). "Olivia Bee, Photography Prodigy, Is Just A Kid From 'Somewhere'". Refinery29. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
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