British Indian photographer and director Vivek Vadoliya’s work is warm, generous, and intimately personal. Working between documentary, fashion and portraiture, his projects explore themes that are rooted in experience, such as British Asian identity, societal masculinity and beauty ideals - through these Vivek has crafted a distinct aesthetic, celebrating people or places typically overlooked.

Growing up with a cross-cultural upbringing in the British suburbs Vivek uses his photographs and films to challenge the status quo in representations of beauty and culture by brands – something he sees as a constant conversation.

‘My early portrait project Brotherhood and more recent series Sisterhood both helped me realise the potential power that image-making can have in helping a community feel seen’. For Vivek both projects are a celebration of the wide spectrums of masculinity and femininity, people and passions, found within British South Asian culture.

In April 2022, Vivek released his first book Mallakhamb, published by Antihero Press. The project was shot in Mumbai capturing young city dwellers practicing and performing the ancient martial art form of the same name. The practice combines the principles of yoga with aerial acrobatics, and wrestling grips - its athletes moving fluidly into positions on poles and ropes with seemingly superhuman strength.

“I'm always trying to celebrate ordinary people. For me, that looks like people who may be marginalised, and that's not necessarily limited to race or colour, that can be in lots of different ways. I'm interested in people who you might walk past on the street.”