Erwin Olaf (born 1959 Hilversum

Hilversum

is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of North Holland. Located in the region called "'t Gooi", it is the largest town in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller villages...

, Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

) is a Dutch photographer.

Olaf is most famous for his commercial and personal work. He has been commissioned to photograph advertising campaigns for large international companies such as Levi's, Microsoft

Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...

 and Nokia

Nokia

Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...

. Some of his most famous photographic series include "Grief", "Rain", and "Royal Blood". Never one to shy away from controversy, Olaf's work is often daring and provocative. Humorously however, one of his early photographs was once expelled from a show on the basis of not containing nudity.

His work has received many awards and he has held exhibitions around the world.

Olaf studied journalism in the School of Journalism in Utrecht

Utrecht (city)

Utrecht city and municipality is the capital and most populous city of the Dutch province of Utrecht. It is located in the eastern corner of the Randstad conurbation, and is the fourth largest city of the Netherlands with a population of 312,634 on 1 Jan 2011.Utrecht's ancient city centre features...

.

Erwin Olaf has show in galleries and museums all around the world as for example at Flatland Gallery, Utrecht ; Hasted Hunt, New York; Galerie Magda Danysz, Paris

Magda Danysz Gallery

Magda Danysz is a Paris based art dealer. Magda Danysz started in the art business in the early 90, when she opened her first art space in 1991 as she was still a student. She has studied at the ESSEC French business school and made student exchanges at the Osaka International University in 1995...

; Gallery Espacio Minimo, Madrid ; B&D Gallery, Milan ; Miller Gallery, New York
Crown Gallery, Brussels ; Reflex Gallery, Amsterdam etc.

Museum of Modern Art, Moscow
FotoMuseum, Antwerp
Groninger Museum, Groningen
DA2, Salamanca, Spain
Museum of New Art, Pontiac, USA
GAM/Modern Art gallery of Bologna
Muzeum Miejskie we Wroclawiu, Wroclaw, Poland
Cultuurlaboratorium, Limburgs Museum, Venlo
Institut Neerlandais, Paris
Arts Statements ltd., Hong Kong
Tapper-Popermajer gallery, Malmo
Groninger museum, Groningen
Museo Arte Contemp, Nuoro
Fotomuseum Den Haag
Museo Artium, Vitoria-Gazteis
Chelsea Art Museum, New York
Bilbao Art Centre, Bilbao
Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst, Vlissingen
Centraal museum, Utrecht
Groninger Museum, Groningen
Museum of Modern Art, Hasselt
Nederlands Foto Instituut, Rotterdam ;
Groninger Museum, Groningen ;
Amsterdams centrum voor de fotografie, Amsterdam ;
Museum van Bommel van Dam, Venlo ;
Roselyn Oxley Gallery;
Kunsthal for Modern Art, Rotterdam ,
Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam;
Fodor Museum, Amsterdam

External links

• Official website
• Gallery website
• (Fr) Article on Erwin Olaf - Artup-TV.com
• Photography portfolio and biography Bernstein & Andriulli