Nigerian-born photographer, Olaleye, makes Portrait Of Britain shortlist

Marianne Olaleye, a Nigerian-born photographer, has been shortlisted among the top 100 for the Portrait of Britain photography contest.

Launched in 2016 by the British Journal of Photography (BJP), the Portrait of Britain is an annual British portrait photography competition.

Courtesy of her shortlisting, Olaleye will have her works published in a first-time Portrait of Britain book to be released September 6.

The shortlisted photographers have been featured on JCDecaux public digital screens, the largest display of contemporary portrait photography in the UK.

According to Olaleye, photography, to her, is about storytelling and expressions of human behaviour.

The UK-based photographer describes her kind of photography as “simple and candid”.

Olaleye often spotlights the “candid nature of feminine beauty” in her photography.

Pleased to share that my portrait of Aisha has been selected by @1854 as one of the winning images for Portrait of Britain 2018. This image will be exhibited on screens across the UK, and featured in the first ever #PortraitofBritain book.

Send me a photo if you spot it 😉 pic.twitter.com/XOZAXtkOU9

— Marianne. (@marianneolaleye) September 1, 2018

“I focus on the natural beauty of women… I feel like it’s important to portray BME women in soft settings, as they are rarely represented in the media and even when they are, they are often sexualised or fetishized,” she once told Ayiba Magazine.

“As such, I photograph women in their natural settings, as everyday women, to present a counter-narrative that re-tells the story of the marginalised.

“I’m very much inspired by the beauty of the women I photograph, and not only in the physical sense, but in the various roles they undertake in their lives.”

Olaleye has done work for former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and Akinwunmi Ambode, Lagos state governor.

Her work has been published in Aftenposten and The British Journal of Photography.