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Olivia Marty (b. 1978) is a French-South African contemporary artist and architect who lives and works in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)  Vietnam.

 

She began photography early on while pursuing her architecture career in Paris first, then relocated to Vietnam in 2004 as her husband is French-Vietnamese.

 

Her photographic art project 'recOllectiOn' started in 2010 as a pictorial study on new interpretation of the photographic space and the urban scene, as well as a reflection on Vietnam's history –past and present.  She has developed her own technique, superimposing layers of old photographic material projected on various urban surfaces and re-captured through the lens as is -by doing so she blends architectural details and street art with emotions.

 

She is one of the handful of laureates of the 3rd Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF -2012).  Launched in 2008, the SIPF is a biennial gathering of minds from around the world with the common pursuit of advancing the art and appreciation of contemporary photography.  The month-long SIPF is one of the most important photographic events in the region, attracting both established photographers and emerging artists and showcasing original, contemporary artworks to the public.

 

In her most recent photographic project named '727', the scene also takes place in the economic heart of Vietnam but the present is taking over the past by capturing the 'haunted' 727 Tran Hung Dao historic building threatened by the wrecking ball. In both projects, Olivia alternates between different modes of artistic expression - projection, photography, moving objects - and the relationship between then and now is ubiquitous.

Olivia graduated from the Faculty of Architecture of Versailles (France) and is qualified as a French Architecte DPLG.  Her thesis looked at the development of the Asian metropolis and had involved a year-long project on The Rehabilitation and Space Planning of the Makkasan Slums in Bangkok.