Magnum Editions Poster: Birds over the Bosphorus. Istanbul, 2006

Olivia Arthur is known for her in-depth photography examining people and their personal and cultural identities. Much of her work has illuminated the daily lives of women living in places as varied as Saudi Arabia, India and much of Europe. “For me, part of the power of still photography is the ambiguousness of pictures, the ability to give a hint about a scene or event without being too absolute,” says the photographer of her work. In “The Middle Distance”, Arthur explores women’s lives along the fault lines between Europe and Asia, in communities traditionally closed off from the West, providing an intimate and sensitive glimpse into the often-segregated spaces occupied by her subjects.