When Olivia Dean is onstage, she doesn’t need a spotlight to direct your attention. Her presence is immediate, her energy magnetic, each shimmy and sashay holding your gaze. Her syrupy vocals put you into a trance. Add a hair toss as she hits a note? You’re hooked. But how do you bottle that experience for someone who wasn’t there? And how do you immortalize it for those that were lucky enough to be singing along in the stadium?
That’s where Lola Mansell comes in. The London-born, Paris-based photographer shoots those intimate, vibes-on-vibes pictures from Dean’s “The Art of Loving” tour that are all over your social feed. It all started when The Art of Loving’s first few singles dropped in early 2025. The promotional art caught Mansell’s eye: it perfectly matched her signature style of black-and-white, high-contrast imagery. Feeling that a collaboration was meant to be, Mansell decided to reach out about photographing Dean. “I connected with her stylist, Simone Beyene, and she invited me to shoot the Paris show in June 2025, so a year ago now. It was actually the first concert I had shot,” she recalls.
It was a match made in creative heaven; they’ve been on the road together ever since. She snaps during the show, grabs candids and behind-the-scenes moments backstage, and makes sure those who are as obsessed with Dean’s wardrobe as they are with her music can savor every detail of her stunning tour looks.
Dripping with shimmering sequins and twirly fringe, the Grammy winner’s on-stage wardrobe summons the glamour of a Parisian jazz club singer and the spectacle of earlier icons like Diana Ross and Cher. Mansell captures each frock and the accompanying Cartier jewelry in motion and repose, drawing on her background in editorial and runway photography to get the most mesmerizing shot.
“Olivia wears a new brand each night, so I look around the venue for a place to shoot it,” Mansell tells Highsnobiety, adding, “Being a fashion photographer too, it has been amazing to shoot her in custom Chanel and pieces by Jacquemus—styled by the best, Simone.”
One of her favorite shots from the tour so far is an image of Dean jumping in front of the crowd at a Manchester show. It’s taken from the stage—Mansell had to stand behind the guitarist to get it—and freezes the “Man I Need” singer in a blur under the lights, her custom Clio Peppiatt dress a whirl of beads around her as she practically levitates. “I love how the blur captures her energy and joy, and gives some movement to the still image,” Mansell says. “I also like the sense of connection between her and the audience. Olivia always seems so at ease and in her element when she is performing—I try to capture this energy in my photography.
“She brings so much energy to her shows, like it’s her favourite every night,” she adds.
That’s how it felt during night two of the Los Angeles tour stop, where the singer reminisced to the sold-out crowd of nearly 20,000 about how she hadn’t been in the Crypto.com Arena since the Grammys. On music’s biggest night, back in February, she nabbed one of the major awards—Best New Artist—and prompted every viewer who somehow didn’t know her yet to acquaint themselves ASAP.
Those recent converts mixed with longtime fans inside the arena, filling the floor and seats row by row. Most wore polka dots (the unofficial dress code for an Olivia Dean show), and as the lines at the merch stalls thinned, many donned newly purchased concert tees with a picture of the artist on the front—a portrait taken by none other than Mansell. “Walking into the big arena and seeing so many fans wearing a T-shirt with my image on it’s a bit surreal,” she says.
But she only has so much time to take it all in. Once Dean is in glam, the photographer starts snapping candids, and she doesn’t stop until the confetti has fallen and the curtains have closed. During a song, she’s in the wings or crouched onstage to line up the perfect angle; mid-show, when Dean does an outfit change and runs to the smaller second stage, Mansell’s running alongside her to photograph her interactions with fans. (She learned early on “that my ballet flats didn’t quite cut it” when it came time to navigate larger venues.)
Every once in a while, she will let herself fall under Dean’s spell with the rest of the crowd. “It’s hard when there’s so much I want to shoot, but I love to have a little dance with the team in the front of house or side of stage when I can.” After the show, she and the singer have a debrief before she starts editing. The next morning, it’s off to a new city to do it all again. Detours with Dean’s team—like the floating sauna they visited in Oslo—are wedged in the precious hours between red-eyes, rehearsals, and the performances themselves. It’s a whirlwind, but Mansell wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I really enjoy working with Olivia, and I’m so grateful to be part of the tour and working alongside the incredible talent in this whole team,” she says. They’re kindred spirits. Like the singer, Mansell is a storyteller. Her pictures are her lyrics; her camera, her microphone. While Dean sings, Mansell, too, is crafting a narrative. Hers, silent as photographs must be, is about the woman behind the voice.
“I hope through my images, you can see Olivia not only as an incredible performer,” Mansell says, “but as someone who brings connection and joy wherever she goes.”
