Erwin Olaf

Erwin Olaf (°1959) has lived and worked in Amsterdam since 1980. He started as a photojournalist and soon realised staged photo series. His breakthrough came with the black-and-white series ‘Chessmen’ (1987-1988), which won the Young European Photographer of the Year award 1988. From the outset, he combined free work and commissions, including those from Louis Vuitton, Vogue, and the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam (design exhibition ‘Catwalk’, 2016). His work is exhibited worldwide. Most recent solo exhibitions in Belgium: Fotomuseum Antwerpen (2009) and Kasteel van Gaasbeek (2012 and 2018). 2017-2018: official portraits of the Dutch royal family. In 2018, Erwin Olaf donated 500 key works from his 40-year oeuvre to the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. When he turns sixty, a major solo exhibition will open there in July—a double exhibition at Gemeentemuseum Den Haag and Fotomuseum Den Haag until 12 May. The solo exhibition ‘Parallel’ will be held at the Shanghai Center of Photography (SCoP) until 30 May.