Patricia Niven

Australian-born Patricia Niven is an award winning food and portrait photographer. Her work is known for its rich, textural style and timeless luminosity.

Patricia began taking pictures as a child, initially using her father’s camera & then her own, a gift for her 10th Birthday, and quickly became known for photographing everything from the neighbours’ kids to local farm animals. At high school, she became the designated photographer, finding herself pulled from class to snap local dignitaries or take aerial shots from a visiting helicopter.

Later, drawn more towards people and their stories than the academic demands of art school, she began to immerse herself in the practical world of photography from different angles, with stints in music, fashion & lingerie.

Now, her sumptuous food photographs run the gamut from painterly still lifes through to clean, modern classics – all are imbued with a tranquility, warmth and free-spirited curiosity that defines Patricia’s style. Her sense of connectedness with the natural world means she is fascinated by the soil, the earth and the people who nurture it. For Patricia, food is an extension of personal narratives.

She is at home photographing in a field with mud on her boots as she is in a studio or a Michelin starred restaurant. Her natural warmth and love of people means she thrives when collaborating with a team, relishing the magic of the combined energy in a room, whether it be for commercial, editorial or freelance commissions.

Selected clients include BBH London, Bluebird Books, Hardie Grant, HSBC, KFC, Maille, Ogilvy, Old El Paso, Pavilion, Peroni, Quadrille, Rosewood London, Saatchi & Saatchi & Tesco.

Editorial clients include FT Weekend Magazine, Guardian Weekend Magazine, Observer Food Monthly & Vanity Fair.

She has shot numerous cookery books including The Honey & Co. series, as well as books with authors Yasmin Fahr, Helena Garcia, Signe Johansen and Rosie Sykes. She also works with an extensive range of restaurant clients.

During the first 2020 lockdown, Patricia created The Chicken Soup Project on instagram, an ongoing exploration of the power of food to comfort and sustain us, collating hundreds of contributions from cooks around the world.

She has received awards and nominations including: Julia Margaret Cameron Awards (2020 Honourable Mention – Fine Art); Pink Lady Food Photography Awards (Winner 2020, Finalist 2022, 2019, 2017, 2016, 2015); Association of Photographers Awards (Finalist 2019); Fortnum & Mason Food & Drink Awards (Finalist 2018, 2015); The Sunday Times Food Book of the Year (2014); The 1000 Words Award (2012) and the Taylor Wessing Portrait Award (2004).

Her images have been exhibited in solo and group shows in London (Mall Galleries, National Portrait Gallery, V&A Museum), Liverpool, Portsmouth, Paris and Sydney and her work is in private collections in the UK, US and New Zealand.