Details
| First Name | Robby |
| Last Name | Ogilvie |
| Username | robbyogilvie |
| Website | |
| Region | Edinburgh & The Lothians |
| Disciplines | Photography |
| Themes | Abstract, Figurative, Geometric, Identity, Landscape, Site-specific, Portraits, Narratives |
Statement
| Statement | Working with lens based media, I am interested in the subtle thresholds between inner life and external reality, and in how meaning emerges through attention rather than spectacle. My way of working moves between slowness and immediacy. At times I work slowly, allowing images to form through sustained observation, mood, rhythm and light. At other moments, the work requires speed and responsiveness, responding instinctively to fleeting situations where a moment briefly comes into focus. In both cases, the emphasis is on attentiveness rather than control. This approach is shaped by lived experience of keratoconus and derealisation, conditions that alter how form, brightness and reality are perceived. These experiences inform a shift away from fixed ways of seeing towards more sensory and affective modes of feeling. Vision, in my work, is porous and interpretive, shaped as much by sensation as by clarity.
Across projects such as Intervals, The Stillness Between, The Visible Unknown and Courts, I trace the quiet surrealism of the everyday, moments where familiarity becomes gently unsettled and atmosphere carries narrative weight. Alongside my photographic practice, I self publish books and printed studies that extend these concerns through sequence, materiality and time. |
Biography
| Biography | Sony World Photography Awards 2026 Winner, Category: Object (officially announced 17 Feb 2026 via international press release) Robby Ogilvie is an international award winning Scottish lens based artist whose work explores perception, presence and the quiet tension between belonging and distance. His practice is grounded in slow looking and an attentiveness to atmosphere, shaped by both critical inquiry and lived experience. He studied Product Design Engineering at undergraduate level and holds an MA in Contemporary Art Theory from Edinburgh College of Art, a combination that informs his approach through structured research, material sensitivity and conceptual clarity. Before returning fully-time to his artistic practice in 2024, Ogilvie spent over a decade working in human centred design, user experience and creative strategy. This background continues to influence his work, particularly in how images are sequenced, how attention is guided, and how everyday environments are understood as systems that shape inner life. His approach is informed by lived experience of keratoconus, a degenerative eye condition which alters how form and brightness appear, and by his experience of derealisation disorder, a condition tied to mental health and, for him, linked with periods of depression. These states influence how he understands steadiness, reality and the fragile thresholds between inner and outer life. Rather than seeking new ways of seeing, he is drawn toward new ways of feeling. His images do not deliver emotion directly; they create a space where the viewer can tune into their own. Vision becomes porous, interpretive, shaped as much by sensation as by clarity. He works slowly, allowing mood, rhythm and light to emerge over time. Rather than delivering emotion directly, his images create space for viewers to tune into their own responses. Vision becomes porous and interpretive, shaped as much by sensation as by clarity. A recurring thread in his practice is the surreal quality of the everyday, moments where familiarity begins to feel slightly unreal and atmosphere holds a scene together in the absence of people. His ongoing projects include Intervals, which traces pauses and thresholds; The Stillness Between, which reflects on the natural world as an active presence; The Visible Unknown, which explores softness and ambiguity as a way of questioning how truth is felt; Courts, examining the geometry of Hong Kong’s basketball courts; and Spirit of Place, responding to landscape through mood and memory. Alongside his photographic work, Ogilvie is an active self publisher, producing books, zines and printed studies that extend the contemplative nature of his practice. His work has been exhibited internationally, including the Visual Arts Scotland Biennial exhibition The Thread That Pulls at the Royal Scottish Academy, and he is a Global Award winner for the RED collaboration between i-D and Ray-Ban. Further international exhibitions, including Serbia and Venice. are scheduled for 2026. Recent Exhibitions, Awards & Publications
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