"In some Ukrainian and Russian circles, you must have Gucci shoes, LV bags and Oleg shooting your portrait."

Currently based in Budapest, Oleg almost became a fashion designer but at the very last moment ticked fashion photography on his university admission form. The Soviet-made little camera he used as a child and his early fashion muse, the girl next door (who desperately dreamed of becoming a supermodel), all converged into one drive; seven years later Oleg is the toast of Ukraine and Russia's rich and fashionable. The girl next door became a professional model.

His vision is larger-than-life, shooting fantasy images for clients including Jaguar, Volvo, Playboy Magazine and Bel Ami. "It's almost like a pretty little lie: I take reality and give it a different angle, put it in a different light, add to it something bizarre, or another colour, and make it a turbo-reality, something shocking one," he explains. "Every picture is different, totally unique."

Oleg is represented by Look Agency.