CRT look instead of gloss: Michael Olise's Instagram feed came with a mystery, including a case of mistaken identity. Now it's clear who takes the pictures.
Michael Olise deleted his entire Instagram feed before the World Cup. Since then, the France international has only posted images that look like they were shot off a CRT television: scanlines, reflections, analogue aesthetics. The posts are going viral, and the internet increasingly asked itself one question: who is actually taking these pictures?
For a while, one name in particular made the rounds, and it was the wrong one. Many believed Parisian photographer Flo Pernet to be the author, whose work has a similar look and who recently made public that she didn't have an accreditation for the World Cup. On top of that, further false claims spread, including one about an alleged visa problem. Pernet has now clarified in her Instagram story: she only lacked the accreditation, and she is not Olise's photographer either.
Michael Olise's Instagram: Lukas Korschan confirms the project
Instead, Pernet named the man who is actually behind it: Lukas Korschan, a German photographer and filmmaker. The project is his, as Korschan confirms.
Korschan came to photography via a Sociology degree at Goldsmiths University in London. His work thrives on overlooked details and everyday moments, captured with humour and an eye for the incidental. His clients include Prada, adidas and Nike, and his images have appeared in Vogue, Highsnobiety and The Face, among others.
Michael Olise: the feed as a counterpoint to glossy content
That a footballer has his account run by a photographer of this calibre fits Olise's tournament. The FC Bayern Munich forward is standing out at this World Cup both on the pitch and stylistically, and his feed has become a counterpoint to the usual glossy self-presentation of pros: grainy instead of polished, casual instead of staged. Italian art magazine Il Giornale dell'Arte has already dedicated its own analysis to the project, describing Olise's profile as a curated body of work that stands out from the platform's uniformity with its deliberately imperfect visual language.
In the semi-final on Tuesday night, Olise and France face Spain. The next content in the CRT aesthetic is already in the pipeline.
