Olivia Swinscoe is a contemporary British photographer. Best known for her street portraits, her work encompasses several genres, including street, wildlife and landscape photography, and depicts life in urban and rural settings. She observes the behaviour of her subjects within their environments and, occasionally, their responses to being photographed by Swinscoe herself in the role of the photographer. Physical spaces that resonate with Swinscoe also feature in her work, reflecting her memories or states of mind. Swinscoe describes the starting point for each photograph as a kind of ‘jolt,’ prompted by an encounter with a situation that she finds beautiful, strange or otherwise compelling. The act of photographing is sometimes, she says, like entering a dreamlike state where you are able to remain only through engaging in the act itself. In addition to photography, the artist has also pursued film and audio documentary making.
Swinscoe is a Next Wave Associate of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists where she had her first solo show in 2020. She lives and works in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
