Olga Berdikyan

Olga Berdikyan is a photographer and psychologist who coaches “visible embodiment”, helping clients integrate how they are seen and manifest in the world with deeper aspects of their lives. “The authentic photoshoot” - a method she has pioneered - creates a space in which people can explore different layers of their identity, corporeality and self-perception while being photographed in an emotionally-safe environment. Olga’s practice began more than fifteen years ago when she was training as a psychologist at Moscow State University and realised that the camera was a tool that could help people explore certain feelings about themselves that might otherwise be hard to express. Inevitably, Olga’s curiosity about people’s personalities led to a career working as a professional portrait photographer. Since then Olga has combined her photographic work with research into somatic movement. She practices contact improvisation; has trained as a holistic dance teacher and works as an embodiment facilitator. This interest in movement and how the holistic body functions, has given an extra dimension to her photography, increasing her ability to see-feel her clients and catch the moment. Olga is currently living in Berlin where she is deepening her research into the mind-body connection through post-graduate study in neuroscience. She speaks fluent English and Russian.