Photo: © Erwin Olaf. Courtesy Flatland Gallery — Hope, The Hallway. 2005
Erwin Olaf (1959), whose portraits of the Dutch royal family had received widespread acclaim the previous year, turned sixty that year. It was an ideal moment for a major retrospective. Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Fotomuseum Den Haag honored one of the Netherlands’ most famous photographers with a double exhibition.
The Fotomuseum focused on Olaf’s love of craftsmanship and his transition from an analog photojournalist to a digital image-maker and storyteller. He also personally brought together around twenty photographs by photographers who had been crucial sources of inspiration for him.
The Gemeentemuseum presented the independent work of Erwin Olaf from 2000 through his latest series at the time, including the series he made in Shanghai and his then most recent, never-before-shown series Palm Springs. There, Olaf presented his photography as installations combined with film, sound, and sculpture.
Erwin Olaf: “We are arranging the galleries so that they become a journey through my mind: as a visitor, you can wander through my thoughts.”
Publication: Erwin Olaf – I Am
The substantial publication Erwin Olaf – I Am, featuring no fewer than 240 photographs, was released to accompany the double exhibition. It ranged from his early series such as Chessmen and Blacks through to his most recent series, made in Palm Springs in 2018.
Erwin Olaf — Gemeentemuseum and Fotomuseum Den Haag
February 16–May 12, 2019
