His illustrative style is subservient to rigorous research and inquiry. His work is recognisable through its distinctive line, made with an HB or B pencil, and the frequent inclusion of information and quotations from his subjects, and written commentary. Kugler encounters ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and vice versa: he treats them all with a cool but empathetic eye.
His planned book about the refugee crisis, which is likely to have the title Escaping Wars and Waves, is a time-consuming personal project, funded in part by a grant from Arts Council England. Since Kugler settled in London in , he has built up a strong body of editorial work. In Oxfam sent him to Burkina Faso to report on individuals affected by the food crisis in the Sahel. Other commissioned work often has a documentary element, such as his annual report for the New York organisation New Visions for Public Schools, or his brochure about the London headquarters of communications company Black Sun Plc.
Words and pictures When he carries out interviews, Kugler knows that the camera will pick up details and perspectives that would take too long to capture if he sat down and drew the scene. And in many cases, the people he talks to cannot spare the time to sit and pose; their story tumbles out before they have to move on.
These drawings are about four times bigger than their eventual size. He adds handwritten notes that inhabit another layer of the file. By contrast, his more recent pictures about refugees contain fewer words and are better edited, making them more pointed and moving.
When working on earlier pieces I was predominantly focused on creating good drawings. The editing of text and the placement of it in the layout played second fiddle. For the assignment Kugler accompanied an Iranian truck driver, Massih, who was transporting bottled water across Iran, from Damavand to Kish Island.
Lovely guy. His story for the Swiss magazine Reportagen no. When Kugler makes work for not-for-profit organisations such as Oxfam and MSF, the dynamic of the illustrator-client relationship evolves in interesting ways. These features — sequences of single pages and spreads — are presented with no interruption apart from a short text intro. On the distant surface of the sea there are black marks identified as float rings, inner tubes from cars; by the seafront there are oleander blossoms.
Hanging on a big tree in the foreground, which Kugler makes transparent in order to show the scene in full, he draws jeans and underpants hanging out to dry.
Because of the refugees, though, the tourists stay away. Olivier has a very strong instinct for stories that will resonate over time and deep compassion.
He foregrounds the voices of the refugees as they elucidate their experiences of escape and survival in an empathetic and moving way. In a page about Rezan, a fashion designer, Kugler brings a single character into sharp focus. He describes the time-intensive process that goes into each commission and why he nearly gave up on illustration all together. His illustrations rely on both journalistic observation and intricate drawing skills to tell a story, capturing his subjects from multiple angles, along with quotes and significant details revealing the context of their surroundings.
After finishing a degree in visual communication in Pforzheim, Germany, specialising in illustration, he struggled to find work in his chosen field, and instead took a job as a designer for an agency in Karlsruhe.
Feeling defeated, Olivier stopped drawing for two years until a friend at the School of Visual Arts in New York recommended an MA course, which helped him get back on track. Soon after graduating, he moved into the realm of reportage, with early commissions for The Guardian.
Portfolio Reviews Pep Talk. Interview by Indi Davies. Creative Lives Podcast. See what photojournalists are doing and look at written reportage. Related Content. While I was drawing him he told me that he lived in the car and that he used to work as a chef but lost his job and his apartment after his drug habit got out of control. I found this really interesting and wrote quotes into the drawing. This was the first time I really added text to my drawings.
I showed the drawing and the text to my tutors and fellow students. Their reaction was very positive. So I went back to the location over the next days and did more drawings documenting the place and portraying Alberto, the homeless man. This was my first-ever visual essay. Until this time I was content with just drawing people from a distance, often secretly, in order to become a better draughtsman.
I have been developing this practice since then. What I like about this approach in particular is that it allows me to me to explore the world. It gives me the opportunity and challenges me to meet people from different backgrounds and to learn about their circumstances.
She gave me one of my most favorite assignments. I was still studying at SVA and it was only my second-ever illustration commission. It was for an article about a guy obsessed with the New York subway system. Stacey asked me to create a series of small drawings in the subway. Over the coming years Stacey has continued to give me assignments. Before I went to Greece in August to work on a similar series about Syrians arriving on the island of Kos I contacted Stacey again.
These drawings were published at the beginning of this year. I love to work with Stacey because she is a super nice and a tremendously inspiring person.
She has been supporting my work since the beginning of my career and has given me the opportunity to publish work that means a lot to me in a great magazine. Over the last years I have been doing a food illustration for a chef's column. Each month Jana sends me a new recipe I buy the ingredients, cook the meal and take photos of either cooking in progress or the finished meal I then use the reference to create a quarter page illustration I love doing these drawings!
He is a fantastic observer of details and a great, very humorous , narrator.
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