ERWIN OLAF

Erwin Olaf (born in Hilversum, the Netherlands, 1959) one of the most famous contemporary photographer, emerged onto the international art scene with his series Chessmen, which won the Young European Photographer of the Year award in 1988.

Starting his career as a photojournalist documenting the nightlife of the 1980s, Olaf increasingly sought and defined his own subjects, often explored in series of works in black and white (Squares, Chessmen, Blacks) and color (Mind of Their Own, Rain, Hope, Grief, Dusk, Dawn) including his latest works: Berlin, Shanghai and Palm Springs.

In most of Olaf’s work, the image exudes ambiguity and a sense of nostalgic frustration that clash with the painstaking search of perfection in the details of the representation, confirming once again the artist’s ability in re-constructing the context and the scene to the tiniest of details, with an almost movie-like attention to make-up, hairstyle, dress, forniture and ambient light.

His works can be found in the collections of the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam, the Ludwig Museum in Cologne and the Central Museum in Utrecht, among others.

After the Bushfire from the series “Palm Springs”

2018
Digital C-print
cm 60 x 106.7 ca.