Erwin Olaf: Own: Works 1984-2012

by Donald Pistolesi (Translator), Natacha Wolinski, Erwin Olaf (Editor)

Mixing photojournalism with highly stylized studio photography, Erwin Olaf emerged on the international art scene in 1988, when his series Chessmen was awarded the first prize in the Young European Photographer competition. This award was followed by an exhibition at the Ludwig Museum in Cologne, Germany, in the same year. From early on, Olaf committed himself to uneasy issues of class, race, sex and religious belief. Noirish and steeped in 1950s Americana, his style has been embraced by the advertising world, leading to worldwide campaigns for Diesel Jeans and Heineken (which won him the coveted Silver Lion at the Cannes Lions Festival for Advertising). Outside of his commercial work, in recent series such as Rain (2004), Hope (2005), Grief (2007) and Fall (2008), Olaf subverts ideals of domestic bliss, while Dusk (2009) and Dawn (2010) show how culture can become repression. A similar disengagement takes place in the Hotel series (2010), in which he explores a range of melancholic emotions in dimly lit, exquisitely furnished 1950s hotel rooms. Alongside new and unpublished work, this book-now in its second printing-shows an overview of all the personal (non-commercial) work that Olaf has made over the past 25 years. It includes essays by Natacha Wolinski and Christoph Ruys and an interview with the photographer.
Erwin Olaf was born in the Netherlands in 1959. His work in photography, fashion and film has won him numerous awards and commissions. In 2010 Louis Vuitton commissioned Olaf for a portrait series in collaboration with the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. He also won numerous other international art and media prizes, such as Photographer of the Year in the International Color Awards in 2006, and Kunstbeeld magazine's Artist of the Year of the Netherlands in 2007. Among his recent monographs are Erwin Olaf (Aperture) and Vite Private (Contrasto).

Genres: Photography, Art

348 pages, Hardcover

First published June 15, 2012

Reviews

[Sander van der Heide · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is how a photography book should be done. All the works arranged in series and almost every photo presented on one page, with a blank page beside it. The number of page spreads are limited, but I understand the choice to present them this way. The titles of the photos and the year is mentioned at the last page of the book and some explanation in the beginning. For the rest, the works of Erwin Olaf speak for themselves and lots of iconic stuff is included in this collection of works between 1984 en 2012. I found this book in the public library and was happy I could borrow it for a while. You can still find some copies online, but expect to pay around 200 euro for a used copy.

Production Value: outstanding, high quality paper and superb prints
Cover: Keyhole (2011)
Photo-Text Ratio: 10 to 1
Appeal: If you like photobooks, you’ll love this
Captivation: flip pages from series to series
Overall Score: 9 out of 10
Buy, borrow or bury: Buy or borrow

[Bert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prachtig boek, de achtergrond van een aantal collecties wordt uitgelegd . Mooi foto’s die een verhaal vertellen en je mee neemt in de sfeer die Erwin Olaf wil creëren.

[Bram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Groot boek met foto’s uit de periode 1984-2012. Helaas is de opbouw niet geheel chronologisch, maar de foto’s staan wel per serie bij elkaar. De foto’s zijn lekker groot afgedrukt en krijgen steeds alle aandacht, informatie staat per beeld achterin. Het viel mij op dat van de serie ‘Mind of their own’ uit 1995 niets werd opgenomen. Het is misschien een ietwat problematische serie, maar het voelt vreemd dat het in dit overzicht helemaal ontbreekt.