FROM the grey skies of London, to the diversity of India to the arid landscape of Jeddah, photographer Olivia Arthur is making a name for herself around the world. 27-year-old Arthur studied mathematics at Oxford University and photojournalism at the London College of Communication. Her work has been exhibited at the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the Triennale in Milan and has been published in Time, The Observer, Telegraph and Independent publications. On a recent trip to Jeddah, Arthur was working on a project photographing women in the Middle East as part of her nomination process to become a member of Magnum, the most prestigious photography agency in the world. Incidentally, she is also the recipient of the 2007 Inge Morath Award from Magnum for her project “The Middle Distance,” documenting the lives of women along the border between Asia and Europe. When she brought up the idea of coming to the Middle East to do a photo series on women she was confronted with the fact that many people saw the work as clichéd. “No its not clichéd,” she replied with the bravado that makes it evident at the get go that she's passionate about her work. “It's really interesting because people don't understand and there's something to show. I'm not claiming to be an expert. I'm just curious and I'm just trying to discover it.” One of the biggest drawbacks for Arthur was her frustration with just how much she could show in her photos. “The frustrating bit is that I'm having a fantastic time but I'm not able to portray in my photographs, the amount of openness and friendliness that I've encountered because you can't photograph everything and in fact when you're talking about women you can't photograph a lot of what you see.” “Professionally that's been quite frustrating, I mean I have taken a lot of pictures but I've had to find ways around it,” she added. Photographers strive to get certain shots when their subjects are at their most comfortable and therefore are at their most natural when they are alone. However, Arthur said her camera was prohibiting those moments from coming to light as women would often prefer to cover up with their abaya and niqab as soon as the camera would come to life. As part of her visit she was an instructor for a workshop at the British Council in Jeddah where 11 female photographers of varying abilities took part in a two-week workshop to improve their photography skills. The workshop will act as an addition to a photo-exhibition named “My father's house” to be held in October by the British Council. “It was interesting; it was challenging. One of the things that surprised me was the amount of interest there is in photography from women. Everywhere I went, Saudi women were asking ‘why didn't we know about your workshop, can we do another one?'” The challenge she added, was because many of the students wanted to learn how to use their cameras and wanted to be taught to become a good photographer. “They wanted me to turn them into better photographers and they were a bit surprised when (they realized) the only person that can make them better photographers was themselves.” Given the restrictions on photography here, Arthur said she was surprised to see how interested Saudis really are in photography.“I think there's a real interest in photography. It's not very developed, but the interest is there and I think it's a really healthy thing.” She also remarked that the women who took part were very enthusiastic but lacked the drive photographers elsewhere exhibit.“They want to be a good photographer but they don't really want the responsibility that comes with (that) ownership,” Arthur said begrudgingly. She continued to say that based on her observations, there was a distinct schism between the enthusiasm for photography and the actual act of taking photos, adding that it was a ‘real first' for her. Despite the challenges, however, Arthur stresses that she was really pleased with the results of her visit and greatly enjoyed the enthusiasm for photography she encountered in the Kingdom. Arthur said she started her career as a photographer at university in England but quickly found herself spending more time on the college newspaper than on her studies. She later moved to India to continue her career and worked as a freelance photographer in Delhi. “I've spent just over two years there. When I arrived in India I was taking pictures on 35mm: both black and white and color. That was the time when I was trying things out,” she remarked. Impressively, her first assignment in India was from the Guardian newspaper. Choosing to use only medium format film for the photographs she took in the Kingdom, Arthur chuckled and said she was anxious to see for herself what she had photographed. “I've got an entire desk of film just waiting to be developed,” she laughed with the apprehension and excitement every photographer experiences when waiting to see their work in a form a little more concrete than the images their imagination throws up.
