Ivan Olita presents... Olivia Bee

We have already investigated the fashion show through the eyes of Ivan Olita, well, now he is back and wants to present his finds to you. This week he's unearthed young professional photographer, Olivia Bee, and he wants you to get to know her.

How are you? (answer with a pic)

Name: Olivia Bee

Age: 17

Who are you?

I am currently a young professional photographer living in Portland, Oregon.

Who would you like to become?

I would like to become a photographer that lives all over the world but mostly in New York... Who goes on the road with great bands to photograph them; photographs big fashion editorials; makes feature films and music videos; knows Julian Casablancas, and has a tattoo of a heart on her 2nd littlest finger on her right hand.

Make a choice from what makes more sense to you:

The medium is the message the medium is the medium the message is the medium

The medium is the medium. I think that the medium affects the message but it is not the message entirely. It is indeed not always just what you say, but how you say it...but when it comes down to it, what you're trying to say is what should shine through.

I love your pics. Do you?

Shucks!! Thank you! I do love my pictures, but I am very self critical so I don't love them for very long. I am always trying to get better.

What would you like to add to your work?

New people, new places, new thoughts, new memories.

Do you dream a lot? If yes what?

There are a couple kinds of dreaming...

I dream, with dmt and sleep, almost every night. I always dream about taking photographs. I'll wake up only to find that I didn't take 35 rolls...I'll wake up and feel a longing for the memories and the photographs that I captured in my dreams.

I also daydream about the future a lot...dream about traveling, about living in New York, about dating a rocker, about meeting my heroes, about taking the photos of my dreams...

I suppose you could call me a dreamer...

What do you think about photographing without actually using the camera?

(Check out this link to answer: http://9-eyes.com/)

I think this is a really an interesting phenomenon...because the camera isn't being held by another human being, the people being photographed don't know they are being photographed and are in their most natural of states. There is some awesome stuff on that website!! And that it's all completely just candid and just every day, is great. Eye opening.

Who inspires you the most?

rineke dijkstra terry richardson sandy kim robert mapplethorpe gregory crewdson

Gregory Crewdson. Our work is very different right now; he makes very set up and cinematic photographs whereas a good majority of my work is the opposite; but he inspires me because I don't make a lot of art like he does. His work urges me to go in a different direction, which is very healthy.

What would you keep if you have to throw away everything expect 3 things?

My favorite camera, the most amazing piece of clothing I will ever own, and a fortune that i've had since I was very little that inspires me.

Have your parents ever discovered something from seeing your pics that they didn't know before?

I think a lot of what my parents know about my social life is through my pictures. They kinda just learn as it all goes on.

Who's your living idol?

Annie Leibovitz

Ok, let's suppose - you can either meet her and have a nice talk but NO PICTURES AT ALL or you can meet her and shoot him but NO TALK AND CONTACT AT ALL, which would you choose?

I think I would prefer to have a nice talk and not be able to shoot her, because I know that because I would not be allowed to shoot, I would remember every second of it. The rare times that I don't have a camera are usually the most vivid in my memory -- it is always a bummer that I don't have a sentimental piece of whatever happened -- but sometimes, accidentally, it is necessary.

Name the first time you realized you could make a living out of your photos.

When I got my first check from Converse when I was 15 and I didn't really know what to do with it...looking back on it, it wasn't that much...but it just surprised me...I was like, dumbfounded that I got paid that much for a day of doing something I loved.

Your photos are a smart synergy of everyday situation presented in a "wonder way" so what is more inspiring to you:

ordinary extraordinary

The extraordinary in the ordinary. Everything can be beautiful, memorable, and perfect when you look at the right moment.

Are your friends more aware of the power of you shooting them or are they still ok with that?

They are ok with it. Sometimes though, people will be annoyed when I am taking the photo, but then when they see it, a week, a month, a year, after it was taken, they are happy about it. My friend Ben and I were talking the other day and being nostalgic and he said "it's good that you're documenting our lives." I thought that was really sweet.

Is it difficult to show your work to people of your age? Do they get it? What about older people?

I think the thing about my work is that it isn't really confined to one time period. Being a kid may have its changes throughout time, but what it comes down to, is that you're still a kid. You are still messing around, goofing off, having a ball. No matter what time era, you are a kid. I think people can really relate to my work -- whether they are a kid, or were a kid.

Is the film dead? When is the digital going to die? What's next?

Film's not dead, but I am sad to say that it is certainly dying. I shoot almost all of my personal work on 35mm film and print them myself, so I don't really know how I'm going to deal when the chemicals aren't available anymore. Digital is going to go on for a long long time...maybe we will have moving Harry Potter style pictures as the norm...but I'm sure it will be on the internet...everything will just further delve deeper into the internet. Video will probably become more prominent as well.

I know you just got the cover of the Ny magazine, exciting uh? Would you like one pic of you to become ICONIC? If yes wich one and why?

It was exciting!! I was really honored. Like, really stoked about it. I have gotten quite a lot of attention for a photo of one of my past boyfriends and I -- and I think maybe it has the potential to be iconic. I think it sums up adolescence pretty well -- probably sums up my current body of work and this stage in my life, very well. I think it is the most iconic of my images so far, and I would like it to keep getting out there. This image really makes me feel something, which is one of the things a typical iconic image possesses. So maybe? Maybe.

Is there something-someone you already know you will NEVER want to have a picture of?

Not really. I am always trying to stretch my limits and keep my mind open.

Ive asked some of my twitter followers to ask you something, here is one: If you're about to die what would you photograph as your last subject?