The Long Version
I’m Oliver Stephen, people call me Olly, apart from the people that think my name is Steve. I’ve never won an award, I take photos, and I don’t work for Wrexham AFC
You might be interested in buying some prints of my work from the Cae Ras Collective, or some of my zines from online store. You can also follow me on Instagram where I am consistently inconsistent with what I post as I prefer to avoid using social media as much as I can. If you enjoy my work, or me, or perhaps the rare combination of both, you can also buy me a decaf tea or generally donate anywhere from 1p to millions of pounds to support what I do.
There’s a decent chance you know me from that thing on the tv about the football, but you may also know me from lingering around the Wrexham art, music, and theatre scene with my camera, or perhaps from Wrexham Zine Library orWrexham Photography Social, both of which I co-run. I worked with Hypha Studios and Dispensary Gallery when they took over the old ASDA Living space and turned into Wales’s largest gallery space for 6 months.
I’ve done a bunch of workshops and talks over the years for Ty Pawb, The Canal & River Trust, Wrexham University, the School of Creative Arts, Oriel Mostyn, the Northern Eye Festival, Recovery in Focus,
Somehow I’ve ended up being interviewed on some podcasts, radio, and YouTube channels such as Robbie’s Hope, The Local Pundit, Be the Connection, Home is Where the Art Is, Putting Wrexham on the Map, SAMCAM, and even apparently on Brazilian Fox tv’s coverage of the football.
Along with documenting my journey as a Wrexham AFC fan I’ve also photographed sport for Wrexham Police FC and North Wales Crusaders.
I like to explore North Wales with my camera and get in touch with my Welsh heritage. I also do the same with London as I never really took the time to explore it photographically when I was growing up there. I’ve always loved the coast and have ongoing work about the sea called “Between the Land and the Sky”
Like most photographers I have work about birds, and one where I take photos on, and of, buses, with one about a specific bus route, the 51. I also take photos in cars, and have a series called “Wales from the Passenger Seat of a Car”.
Over the years I’ve amassed a collection of images of shoes, because shoes are interesting and you can tell a lot about a person by them.
I spent about a year photographing one of my best mates, Georgia Nielson, whenever we were together at the art school and she went for a cigarette break on a very specific seat in a series called “Smoking Chair”. I’ve also generally photographed her as a sort of muse at times.
Over the last few years I’ve worked on projects for The Turf, National Theatre Wales, Ty Pawb, UnDegUn, Ty Cornel, Avant Cymru, Breakin’ Convention, Wynne Construction, Wrexham Glyndwr University, the Canal & River Trust, Voicebox, DataMosh, Wrexfest, Dirty Protest Theatre, Hypha Studios, Dispensary Gallery, Outside Lives, North Wales Crusaders, National Centre for Circus Arts, Red Roach Records, Wrexham Pride, Wrexham Police FC, Wal Goch Festival, Crusaders Wheelchair Rugby League, Nearly There Yet, Wrexham City of Culture, Articulture, National Library of Wales, Oriel Mostyn, The Reading Agency, the School of Creative Arts (formerly North Wales School of Art & Design), and a lot of private commissions.