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Olivia Bee: Kids in Love
Olivia Bee (born 1994) is celebrated for her dreamy, evocative portraits and landscapes rich with implied narratives of intimacy, freedom and adventure. Olivia Bee: Kids in Love showcases two bodies of photographic work, including the series Enveloped in a Dream that first brought Bee recognition as a teenager. This first series offers a visual diary of girlhood friendship and the exploration of self, showcasing Bee's unique ability to convey the bittersweet nostalgia of adolescence on the brink of adulthood and new possibilities. The second set of images, Kids in Love, is drawn from recent work and continues Bee's photographic chronicle of her circle of friends and new loves, capturing both the pleasures and terrors of the fleeting passage of romanticized youth. While the work continues to evolve, what remains constant is her seductive use of color and photographic artifact, as well as the immediacy and charge of each image. Bee gives voice to the self-awareness and visual fluency of the millennial generation. Experiences are sharply felt, and easily communicated and shared, generating visual records that render these memories as significant as the moments themselves. Tavi Gevinson, founding editor of the online magazine Rookie and Bee's frequent collaborator and model, writes about the work and about the role of images as social currency in today's image-driven world.
- GenresArtPhotographyRomance
136 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2016
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191 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 1, 2016
The photographs in Kids in Love come from two series of Olivia Bee's early work, mostly shot in Portland, Oregon—and here is where I need to disclose my personal connection, however indirect, with Bee. She was born in the same year as my son Daniel, and she's practically a neighbor—she grew up just a few blocks away from us in Southeast Portland, across the street from Daniel's childhood friend Liam (who shows up in several shots in Kids in Love).
This connection makes her work even more meaningful to me, but the fact is that I'd like her photography even if I didn't know who she was. Olivia Bee's images have a unique aesthetic quality that even I, only minimally acquainted with the mysteries of f-stops and bokeh, can recognize and appreciate. Highly-saturated and in soft focus, frequently taken in dim light, at first glance the photographs in Kids in Love may appear naive, like snapshots taken by a cheap camera. But if you look more closely you can see that each image is carefully composed, including no more detail than it needs. Shots like these have made Bee a sought-after photographer, who's done work for Converse, Hermés Paris, and Nike, the New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, and Playboy, among many others. Her website at http://oliviabee.com/ features more of her amazing work and curriculum vitae.
Kids in Love is a beautiful physical object as well. The photographs are presented singly, without captions or commentary, allowing each its own space to take effect. All the words are saved for the end—a wise choice, I think. There is a list of plates, for people who want titles and dates, and the book concludes with an enlightening interview with Tavi Gevinson, in which Bee discusses her history and approach to photography.
In Tavi Gevinson's words, Kids in Love can make you "nostalgic for last Tuesday"—and even if your teenage years were rather longer ago than that, these pages still bring to mind the evanescence of youth.
Seriously—keep an eye on this one; she may have started early but she hasn't yet peaked.
This connection makes her work even more meaningful to me, but the fact is that I'd like her photography even if I didn't know who she was. Olivia Bee's images have a unique aesthetic quality that even I, only minimally acquainted with the mysteries of f-stops and bokeh, can recognize and appreciate. Highly-saturated and in soft focus, frequently taken in dim light, at first glance the photographs in Kids in Love may appear naive, like snapshots taken by a cheap camera. But if you look more closely you can see that each image is carefully composed, including no more detail than it needs. Shots like these have made Bee a sought-after photographer, who's done work for Converse, Hermés Paris, and Nike, the New York Times Magazine, Le Monde, and Playboy, among many others. Her website at http://oliviabee.com/ features more of her amazing work and curriculum vitae.
Kids in Love is a beautiful physical object as well. The photographs are presented singly, without captions or commentary, allowing each its own space to take effect. All the words are saved for the end—a wise choice, I think. There is a list of plates, for people who want titles and dates, and the book concludes with an enlightening interview with Tavi Gevinson, in which Bee discusses her history and approach to photography.
In Tavi Gevinson's words, Kids in Love can make you "nostalgic for last Tuesday"—and even if your teenage years were rather longer ago than that, these pages still bring to mind the evanescence of youth.
Seriously—keep an eye on this one; she may have started early but she hasn't yet peaked.
February 10, 2025
Let me be fair and say that I am probably not her intended audience, even though I am a photo based artist, run a gallery, and teach photography in college. I am old and she is young.
There is certainly a freeness to her images, bathed in color and proudly showing off film grain. (in the 1960's people printed with negative sprockets visible to show that they are not cropping; in the 2020's people are using pronounced film grain to show that they are using film). The images are very much like Nan Golden, which she acknowledges in the book's transcribed interview, but much cleaner and happier. I believe all of them are taken while she was quite young, before high school graduation. If that is the can, this is quite an achievement.
But I can't give this 5 stars. Too many images are seemingly thrown in, or a very standard "edge" portrait/pretty landscape. Even so, she achieves greatness at times: kids sneaking out of the house, a blurred Airstream camper at night, girl in a splashing wave, for example.
Her images continue to be strong-- I now follow her on IG. I hope commercialism or early success does not stifle what she has started.
There is certainly a freeness to her images, bathed in color and proudly showing off film grain. (in the 1960's people printed with negative sprockets visible to show that they are not cropping; in the 2020's people are using pronounced film grain to show that they are using film). The images are very much like Nan Golden, which she acknowledges in the book's transcribed interview, but much cleaner and happier. I believe all of them are taken while she was quite young, before high school graduation. If that is the can, this is quite an achievement.
But I can't give this 5 stars. Too many images are seemingly thrown in, or a very standard "edge" portrait/pretty landscape. Even so, she achieves greatness at times: kids sneaking out of the house, a blurred Airstream camper at night, girl in a splashing wave, for example.
Her images continue to be strong-- I now follow her on IG. I hope commercialism or early success does not stifle what she has started.
December 24, 2019
Two beautiful collections of photos, capturing the magic of the world and the everyday moments that define adolescence. I wish the titles were put with the photos though.
January 14, 2025
m’ha encantattttt es magnífic. l’autora es increïble!!!!! perfecte, m’encanten els llibres de fotografia
September 28, 2025
olivia bee's photography (in conversation with tavi gevinson) reminds me of being 16
January 4, 2017
The concept is basically growing up, but romanticized.
Everyone knows what real life is like, and it's nothing like one of those coming-of-age movies, but personally? I really wish it was, and Kids in Love helps give me a piece of that.
This book perfectly captures moments in life as they happen! Sweet, bittersweet, or just bitter, every dreamlike photo has a story behind it.
Olivia Bee discusses her inspirations and processes in an interview with Tavi Gevinson, which is a very crucial part in understanding the book because, despite what we like to imagine, nobodys life is quite as picture-perfect as it may appear.
Basically, Kids in Love is a beautiful book that makes me nostalgic for experiences I've never had, and it gives true to life messages about romanticized youth, nostalgia, and the artistic process.
Everyone knows what real life is like, and it's nothing like one of those coming-of-age movies, but personally? I really wish it was, and Kids in Love helps give me a piece of that.
This book perfectly captures moments in life as they happen! Sweet, bittersweet, or just bitter, every dreamlike photo has a story behind it.
Olivia Bee discusses her inspirations and processes in an interview with Tavi Gevinson, which is a very crucial part in understanding the book because, despite what we like to imagine, nobodys life is quite as picture-perfect as it may appear.
Basically, Kids in Love is a beautiful book that makes me nostalgic for experiences I've never had, and it gives true to life messages about romanticized youth, nostalgia, and the artistic process.
June 9, 2016
beautiful binding, the cover design is top-notch. not much of a fan of how the pictures where where actually put in the book, seeing as they sometimes take up as little of 30% of a single page. i wanted the book to have pages with pictures stretched across the whole page, leaving no blank space.
oh well.
it's a very intimate collection of pictures, sometimes a bit too blurry, or too close-up, or too .... much. there are some jewels in it too, though. all the pics in the book can be found on bee's flickr account as well.
oh well.
it's a very intimate collection of pictures, sometimes a bit too blurry, or too close-up, or too .... much. there are some jewels in it too, though. all the pics in the book can be found on bee's flickr account as well.
February 7, 2017
read in the bookshop, was very happy i didn't buy it. i think bee's work is much better than this body selected. would be more a 2 star, except i feel bad for rating it low for someone who's photography i genuinely do enjoy, so
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews