“Well, it is the way I feel comfortable making my shoots,” says photographer Olga Karlovac in an interview with the Phoblographer about her blurry street photography. “It is how I make them. I shoot intuitively, and very soon, I developed the style.” She continues to state that it’s her being authentically herself — which we adore. As a legally blind photographer, Olga’s photos majorly appeal to me because they’re how some of us see the world. And for several others, they’ll present a completely new way of looking at the world.
All images by Olga Karlovac. Used with permission. Please be sure to check out her website and Instagram page.
Who is Olga Karlovac?
Olga Karlovac grew up taking photos as a child. When her father bought her a Canon T70 at the age of 14, she fell deeper in love with shooting photos. “When I started university, I stopped and came back to it much later, in my thirties, as a way to cope with everyday life and as a tool that helped me deal with stress,” Olga tells us. “Since then, things have gotten more and more exciting, and my journey has taken me where I am now.” Olga’s use of photography as therapy isn’t one that she does alone. Many other photographers we’ve interviewed on this website do it too.
She doesn’t consider herself much of a gear lover. “I use simple Ricoh GR II at the moment,” she tells us. No filters, tripods, etc. are included. “This one really gives me everything I need. My trilogy of books has been made with the same cameras, Ricoh GR and Ricoh GR II.” Olga states that her Ricoh GR died when she went out to go photograph with it in a rain storm. This has been a common complaint of ours in our reviews on this site.
Since I first started with the Ricoh, I felt it suited me well. It is small and light, and it is easily adjustable as I do shoot a lot in motion from behind rainy, blurry windows; using manual mode and for me, I can maneuver very easily with the settings, adjusting to ever-changing light and everything around me.
Olga Karlovac
The Beautiful Blurry Street Photography
We’ve previously talked about using intentional camera-shake to make your images look a bit more like paintings. But those require planning — and Olga tells us that she never plans ahead. Instead, it’s all just pure intuition. “I just go out when I feel the mood and emotion are right, I can not force myself to just make the shots, it is in many ways an inner need and passion to express in this way,” She explains. “Usually I spot something (and) feel drawn to it — it can be a person walking across the street, it can be the rooftop of an old house, the men behind the corner running away, actually anything. As I shoot a lot while walking, driving in a tram or a car, everything happens very quickly.”
Lots of photographers these days just end up shooting photos at film ISOs and embracing the slow shutter speed.
Talking About AI Imagery
Olga has the type of work that we love! If you show it to an AI or the tech bros running an AI company, they wouldn’t know what to do with it. And her response about AI imagery sums that up pretty well. “…I still do believe in the human mind and emotion and believe it can not be replaced by technology in its core substance.” Despite this, she doesn’t really follow the news or know anything else about AI imagery.