Oliver Hellowell: He Doesn’t Just Take Pictures, He is a Professional Photographer

By Wendy O’Carroll (UK, Mum of 2, retired SEN advocate, artist, author, and… Oliver’s mum)

Oliver Hellowell is an amazing and talented young man who has achieved his dream of being a published professional landscape and wildlife photographer with orders coming daily from all over the world!

Despite being born with a serious cardiac problem that necessitated open-heart surgery at three months old, Oliver has spent his life blasting all predictions and expectations into oblivion. He was so poorly after his birth that it was thought he might not survive long enough to reach his date for cardiac surgery. After sailing through that first challenge, though, Oliver then took on the numerous other conditions and issues he was assessed as having and continued to surprise medics and educational professionals with his progress despite the many barriers placed in his way. At the time of writing this article in March 2021, Oliver is twenty-four years old and lives with his family in the Blackdown Hills on the Somerset/Devon border. He enjoys an interesting, fulfilling, and enjoyable life and is extremely proud of all his achievements. Oliver’s biological father left when Oliver was six years old and chose to have no further contact with Oliver when he was seven years old. Fortunately for Oliver, he had a mum and big sister who were fierce in their encouragement and enjoyment of this wonderful little person and they were determined that nothing would ever stand in his way. A few years later, Mike O’Carroll appeared in their lives, and his connection with Oliver was instant and a joy to witness. He became a true father to Oliver in every sense of the word. Mike was a photographer, and Oliver began to want to “take pictures like Mike”. He started with his mum’s Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ8 bridge camera but was soon dissatisfied and wanted “a really big camera like Mike’s got!” He adopted Mike’s spare Canon 5D and used Mike’s lenses, which despite initial fears, he never dropped and always held and used in a most professional manner. It became obvious very early on that Oliver had an eye for a good picture.

His view of the world brings joy to so many people across the world.

Artist Spotlight

Four key points began emerging as Oliver’s style, framing, and composition developed.

1. He particularly loved birds. 2. He was fascinated by close-ups of water and splashes. 3. He often took pictures from the ground looking up. 4. He noticed and took pictures of detail and things the rest of us ignore or don’t see.

A Facebook page for Oliver’s photography was set up, which proved enormously successful, particularly after being featured in a short BBC News clip that rocketed him into the spotlight right across the globe. In 2013, Oliver asked if he could have an exhibition and sale of his work, because as he said, “That’s what photographers do”. So, after calculations around how this could be achieved, the costs involved, and with an earnest hope that the event might just break even, the family embarked on what was to be the first of Oliver’s annual exhibitions, which would continue right up until Covid prevented what would have been his seventh in 2020. The event did far better than break even, and Oliver was very proud to use his “takings” to buy everyone involved a Chinese takeaway at the end of a most successful weekend and also to fund his most favourite thing, which is a week away in a rural and preferably remote, self-catering cottage in Wales or Scotland. This first exhibition proved that Oliver could indeed make money from his pictures. Shortly after, a website was created so that people could order online, and Oliver’s business was born. In the last few years, Oliver has appeared twice on BBC’s The One Show, once on BBC’s Countryfile, and has published THREE books of his photography. Oliver won the Positive Role Model Award for Disability at the UK National Diversity Award 2015 and blew kisses to the glittering audience at the award ceremony held at Liverpool Cathedral. In 2017, thanks to the amazing Simon Weitzman, he was commissioned by the Tennessee Board of Tourism to capture the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in his own unique style. This involved Oliver and his parents travelling to the US and Oliver’s first-ever long-haul trip in an aeroplane. Despite finding Heathrow and the large airports in America quite overwhelming, Oliver thoroughly enjoyed his time in Tennessee and made a lifelong friend in a lovely guy called Ken Jenkins, who was introduced to Oliver as a local photographer who specialises in pictures of the Smokies. Ken, who is himself a photographer of international renown, was meant to spend a morning with Oliver, but after bonding over a bacon breakfast, the two ended up spending three days together taking such delight in each other’s company. The following year in 2018, Ken came to the UK to be part of a short film about Oliver for BBC’s The One Show, and after their pride at having their work displayed together in a special exhibition at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 Gallery, the two were both in tears when they bade farewell to each other, and Ken returned to Tennessee. Oliver receives orders for his prints, greetings cards, calendars, and books, daily through his website, and his greatest delight is always reading all the addresses of the places his pictures are going to. Every morning he says, “Let’s see how many orders we’ve got today and where they’re going!” He has a very large world map on the wall in his snooker room at home which is covered in dots representing all the people across the world who follow him. He has dots in Russia, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, to name but a few, as well as just about every country in Europe. The UK is completely obliterated by dots and the US only really has gaps in mountainous and uninhabitable locations! Oliver continues to enjoy nothing better than getting out and about in the countryside to capture new images and to take pictures of our local birdlife from our three outdoor bird hides. He is looking forward enormously to the isolated cottages in Wales and Scotland that he is dreaming of staying in once lockdown ends. Oliver’s images have won many awards, and his work has been profiled and featured in many magazine articles. His photography continues to evolve and improve and provide Oliver with a strong sense of purpose, worth, and self-esteem. His view of the world brings joy to so many people across the world, and he is a shining example of encouragement to those who might feel that the odds are stacked against them. The messages received from his Facebook page are constantly heart-warming, and to know that Oliver continues to make such a difference to the lives of others is enormously

Every morning he says, gratifying. As Oliver says when asked, “Just get out there and “Let’s see how many orders do it!” Oliver suggests that we’ve got today and where anyone and everyone can “Get a camera, get out there and they’re going!” enjoy it because photography can take you anywhere!” And he should know.

For more information visit oliverhellowell.com