As photographers and stylists at COW we love to look for new talent and inspiration from all over and this week we came across Vicky Olschak. Vicky is both a stylist and a photographer from Manchester who's work is a mixture of interesting fashion stories to real life documentary photography.
We love the honesty in Vicky's work, from the city centre food courts to the side of the road cafes, to the children at home and even the organised fashion photo shoots have a sense of normality and humour to them. We're pretty sure for a girl who has just finished studying and at still quite a young age, who captures people and places in such a dramatic way like this, will be able to make quite a mark on the industry!
We got in touch with the lovely Vicky herself to find out more about how she started, working as both a photographer and stylist and who inspires her work..
HI VICKY!
WHAT MADE YOU WANT TO GET INTO PHOTOGRAPHY AND HOW DID YOU GO ABOUT PURSUING IT AS A CAREER?
I
pretty much got into photography whilst at uni. I studied fashion but
for the fashion styling side of the course. And to be honest, it
actually took me a while to enjoy the photography side as I always felt
it made me concentrate less on the styling whilst on shoots, and I
wanted to pursue styling as a career. It was only when we started to
work on projects where we had to document ourselves and others, when I
really started to get into photography.
WHERE DOES YOUR INTEREST IN FASHION COME FROM?
I'm
not really sure.. I've been asked this before and I always find it so
hard to answer. As far back as I can remember I've always had an
interest in fashion.
DO YOU PREFER STYLING A FASHION STORY OR DOCUMENTING SOMEONE ELSE'S LIFESTYLE?
My
love does lie with styling so I always prefer styling a fashion story.
Photography wise though, I prefer documenting rather than shooting.
Although I appreciate the control you get from doing both roles on
shoots, I see styling and photography as separate pursuits.
HOW DID YOU PERFECT THE TECHNIQUE OF FINDING SUCH INTERESTING CHARACTERS AND SURROUNDINGS TO DOCUMENT?
Everything
comes from the concept and the idea behind the shoot. And research. I
might come across a location, or a model and think that'd be amazing for
a shoot and then come back to it when it fits in with a concept.
DO YOU LOOK MORE TO PHOTOGRAPHERS OR STYLISTS FOR INFLUENCE?
I
look to everyone and everything for inspiration. I generally find a lot
of styling inspiration from people on the street. Interesting
characters. And photographers that document interesting people.
WHO HAS INFLUENCED YOUR WORK?
Martin
Parr, Tom Wood, Gosha Rubinskiy are big influences. Jamie Hawkesworth,
Nick Waplington, Katy Grannan, Nan Goldin... I also love the styling of
Max Pearmain, Stevie Dance and Tess Yopp.
BEING FROM MANCHESTER, HOW HAS THE CITY INSPIRED YOU?
It
definitely inspires my concepts. I tend to gain inspiration from my own
life and past and being from Manchester has certainly influenced that.
DO YOU WANT TO TRAVEL MORE FOR YOUR WORK OR WOULD IT CHANGE THE AESTHETIC?
Yeah,
I would love to travel. I think it would change the aesthetic in the
way that I'd be inspired by a new environment, but I think the overall
style of the aesthetic would be the same. Otherwise it wouldn't really
be true to my own style and I wouldn't be totally happy with the images.
WHEN STYLING YOUR SHOOTS DO YOU USE A LOT OF VINTAGE AND IF SO WHY?
I
tend to use a bit of everything... I'll look at the catwalks and trends
and try to incorporate that with clothing and styling true to the
concept and character; and I like that vintage allows me to do that.
WHERE CAN WE SEE MORE OF YOUR WORK IN THE FUTURE? WHAT'S COMING UP?
I'm
currently working on styling shoots with a photographer friend of mine.
We've been working on producing a magazine for a while too so hopefully
that will be in the works in the future too.
