Olivia Bee

American Photographer
(1994-)
Brief Biography
Olivia Bolles (born April 5, 1994),[1] better known as Olivia
Bee, is an American photographer from Portland, Oregon.
Personal Life

Bee is the daughter of a hairdresser mother and a high-tech

worker. Bee grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she
attended da Vinci Arts Middle School. She moved to Brooklyn,
New York when she was 18 years old.
Early Career
Bee's interest in photography began at the age of 11 when she first took a
photography class. In 2013 she summarised her early work as "Like, stuffed
animals and a picture of my mom in the kitchen." 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. Her work was featured in an advertising campaign
for Converse when she was 14. 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. Bee decided to pursue photography as a full-time
career after unsuccessfully applying to study at Cooper Union in New York City.
Style
Her work is largely focused on her own life and that of her friends; 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)", while Kathy Sweeney of The
Guardian observed that "Bee finds a dreamlike, innocent colour in her friends'
gently dissolute experimentation." In an interview with Paper Magazine, Bee
characterized her work as "real, obsessive emotions put in a pop context."[8] Her
photographs often diverge from the rule of thirds, instead placing subjects in the
center of the frame. In 2011 she cited Ryan McGinley, Annie Leibovitz and Nan
Goldin as influences, and attributes her inspiration to her younger brother, mother
and father's musical and artistic talents.
In her own words...
“Do what you love and do it till
your whole body hurts. And as
long as it isn’t killing people or
something equally as horrible,
you’ll do great.”

-Olivia Bee
Images