The dreamlife of Oleg Oprisco

Born in the small city of Lviv in western Ukraine, photographer Oleg Oprisсo started working as an operator at a photo lab. At the age of 19, he moved to Kiev, where he began his career as a photographer.

Oleg Oprisсo is known for his beautiful and fantasy stagging inspired by everyday life in its most peaceful moments. With a highly imaginative approach, much of Oleg Oprisco’s work seems as if you’re living in a fairytale yet somehow everything feels real.

Delicate observer of the surrounding world, Oleg Oprisco is like an architect of light who manages to create a poetic and magical atmosphere on everyday life where time is supsended.

As a worthy successor of great masters of fashion and conceptual photography, Oleg Oprisco uses his camera as a magic wand that allow to look across the borders that separate reality and fiction.

1. Do you see yourself as a Figure of Photography ?

Oleg Oprisco : Of course because my working basis is photography and my main instrument is a camera.

2. How would you describe your style ?

Oleg Oprisco : My style is a combination of the genre portrait with a good idea, a сareful preparation and a nice & original color.

3. What led you to Photography ?

Oleg Oprisco : When I was sixteen, I got a job at a photo lab in the city of Lvov, located in western Ukraine. During three years, I mastered all the stages of printing film and digital photography, and all the peculiarities of working with color. I got a chance to view and adjust the color of several thousand images a day. I can’t even count the number of weddings, house warming parties, birthdays and other holidays I have visited through sorting those images. When I outgrew the photo lab, I moved to Kiev, where through some friends I tried my hand on commercial photography. I found that I quickly got tired of the routine. Luckily, right about that time I got my hands on a medium format film camera called Kiev 6C. Perhaps it was then, in 2009, I found a direction, in which I work to this day.

4. What’s your relashionship with colour?

Oleg Oprisco : Color is the first thing that catches the eye. Then comes the perception of the composition. When I was working in a photo lab, I was trying to adjust colors of many photos every day. On the occasion, I had the opportunity to understand, interpret & manipulate colors. Warmer, richer and brighter images always have better success. Before shooting, I plan the overall color scheme. According to the chosen palette, I select clothes, props, location etc., making sure that all of it plays within a single color range.

5. Are you influenced by ukrainian folklore and culture in your work ?

Oleg Oprisco : No, I’m doing classical photography and I’m always looking for inspiration elsewhere. My work aims at being timeless. This timelessness applies to props, clothes, and models I choose for my series.

6. How do you manage to bring this whimsical, magical and poetic atmosphere into your work ?

Oleg Oprisco : Thanks to a rigorous and careful preparation ! I’m always looking for a perfect balance between the frame, all the details and the atmosphere. By the way, I’m doing everything myself, starting from the creation to the props and finishing with post production.

7. What inspires you ?

Oleg Oprisco : We live in exciting times. Everything changes very quickly : the weather, architecture, landscape, people, time. We can see this all happening in real time. Everything that happens in our lives is a unique source of inspiration. We can live anywhere and create anything and show it around to world. Everything is in our hands. Each of my photos is inspired by a scene from real life. That is the perfect source of inspiration for me as there is so much beauty to it. Perhaps today on your way to work, when you were observing the world around you, that was the scene to inspire my next photograph. Of course there are my own changes that I add to reality, such as characters, props, location, and light… I am constantly involved in a search for inspiration and ideas.

8. Do you think that photography is fulfilling the aesthetic and figurative functions of Painting ?

Oleg Oprisco : According to me, photography is fixing the time that will never happen again. Photographer manages to create this everlasting moment. Photographers are vested with this mission. To be honest, I’ve always been jealous of painters because they can draw anything anytime.

9. Do you often travel for work ?

Oleg Oprisco : I regularly change my place of residence. Be that as it may, I always choose a city with the sea nearby.

10. Does the use of a camera give you a particular power to hide yourself and do things you would never dare ?

Oleg Oprisco : On the contrary, it is possible to create my own & ideal world. Photography has the power to pass on my thoughts. The camera is a terrific tool like a pen or a brush. Anyone can interpret individually each photo. My mission is to make people travel and dream !

11. What do you think about these present times of computer where pictures are made of virtual reality : photography is somehow losing its soul ?

Oleg Oprisco : The more important is not only the result but the means to achieve our goal. That’s why all the effects on my work are real. For the same reasons, I use film : each frame is scanned and edited on the computer but the working basis is created on the filming location.