Today we’d like to introduce you to Oliver Scott.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I started my photographic interest back in the 6th grade watching a friend’s older brother put together action films in his room. They were insane; lots of guns, muzzle flashes and explosion effects downloaded from the internet, and a whole bunch of mediocracies. Being 11 years old, of course I wanted to try this myself, and began making similar videos of a, well, somewhat lesser quality. This continued into my high-school days, but after taking an intro to photography course, I discovered a new way to capture and manipulate the world around. Creating an entire action film in one shot? insane. I did grow tired of the Michael Bay aesthetic, however, and started to pursue a different style. Finding a geometric connection in a frame became my new focus, quickly turning my pictures into a collection of assorted lines and shapes. I’ve moved on to find space for portraits and more general street/urban photography. I hope I can continue to find new ways to create an image, and keep the medium fresh in some capacity. Maybe I’ll get bored and start making crappy action films again. Hopefully not.
Please tell us about your art.
I like to take pictures. There’s a whole lot of light hitting a whole lot of things just waiting to be thrown into a digital box. Many things go unseen and unappreciated, especially those we look at every day while walking to work. However, these scenes have now become normal. They no longer have the beauty in mere existence, primarily because of natural depreciation and clutter, or because we are just used to them now. It’s fun to think about a reality slightly enhanced and framed, one where the lines are straight and the colors are balanced. I like to think of this fantasy as being real, if only in the digital box. These normal scenes which we think nothing about can now inhabit a space where they again become the clean, purposeful, and separated from our dulled perception. I try to create this place in my pictures, and some of them work but many do not. This world is ever evolving, and so is the ability to manipulate it.
Do you have any advice for other artists? Any lessons you wished you learned earlier?
It’s okay to not be original. The only way we learn is by reading and consuming others’ work, so if your stuff looks like everyone else’s, it’s okay. Just make sure to consume as much as possible and have influence from a variety of sources and you might do something that’s new.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
The internet!, I try to make prints, but alas, I’m but a student. You can find my stuff on Instagram and my website, where I hold a gallery of some of my favorites. I have an email there where you can request to buy them, and I can make prints and send them to you. But alas, the greatest support is the sharing of the work. If you want to share the images somewhere I know how easy it is to just nab them from the site, so if you do, please just throw my Instagram handle on there. I’m a fiend for followers.
Contact Info:
- Website: oljss.com
- Phone: 4845606760
- Email: oliverjselucky@gmail.com
- Instagram: @oljss
- Twitter: @oliverjsscott
Image Credit:
Matty, Joyce Htet, Katie Kivinski, Taty Cokely.
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here
