Michael Harvey was born in Brazil and lived in Rio de Janeiro until the age of 7, when he
was sent to school in the U.K. He studied Physics and Astronomy at University, and this
scientific background is visible in his work- the fascination with collections, the clinical
lighting that gives all of his work an immediately recognisable sleekness and graphic
quality. Michael knew straight out of University that his ambitions lay in photography and
he started out working as an assistant in a studio that specialised in car photography.
Michael is like a one-man United Nations- he speaks 5 languages- having lived in Brazil,
Italy, Amsterdam, London- and has travelled all around the world for work and pleasure.
One of his most prestigious and memorable commissions was an extended stay in Saudi
Arabia photographing Pre-Islamic art at the National Museum in Riyadh for an exhibit at
the Louvre in Paris.
Michael uses the Hasselblad system for his studio work- arguably one of the best
photographic systems available. The Hasselblad 50 megapixel multishot allows him
incredible sharpness, clarity and the ability to produce images to cover billboards and
buildings. It was this cutting-edge top of the range system with its unsurpassed
sharpness that encouraged Michael to be an early adopter of digital photography and
has established him at the forefront of digital development. When shooting with film, his
Linhof 54 Master Technika camera still has a firm place in his heart.
Michael’s studio is firmly embedded in the community of Brixton, an area of South
London that has seen an influx of artists, social enterprises, creative agencies and
independent shop owners in the last few years- particularly in Brixton Village, just five
minutes from the studio. It is not hard to see that the urban and artistic vibrancy of the
area contributes to Michael’s creative ideas and allows him to help up and coming artists
and photographers to develop their work through collaboration.
The strong sense of an urban identity in Brixton, around where Michael works, has led
him to want to explore the dynamics of place and he has planned several future projects
around this idea- an interview and study of the German photographers Bernd and Hilla
Becher; a photographic series on the architecture and urban planning of Brasilia, Brazil’s
capital; a landscape series focusing on Southern Morocco.

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