The Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf, who has died aged 64 following a lung transplant, straddled the world of art, advertising and fashion photography with a sumptuous cinematic and painterly aesthetic. Into his meticulously staged works he introduced subtle imperfections to stir disquiet in his audience: “There should be a riddle in every powerful image, so you are intrigued and invited to look over and over again.”
He was influenced by the storytelling power of cinema and the emotion it could provoke. He wanted to create an open-ended narrative in a single shot, to capture the moment between what just happened and what is about to happen. In 2014 he said: “I used to want to conquer the world with strong images, but nowadays I want to say to the viewer: I’ll give you the ingredients, you make the story.”
Olaf began as a controversial figure, striving to subvert established norms, challenge taboos and celebrate diversity. His first inspiration, one that “struck me like lightning” as a student, was Weegee’s Transvestite/The Gay Deceiver c1939, a photograph with a celluloid quality that would stay with him and become a motif of his work. Other influences were the photographers Robert Mapplethorpe, Helmut Newton and Joel-Peter Witkin, but he also drew inspiration from the Dutch masters Rembrandt, Jan Steen and George Hendrik Breitner.
While living in a squat in Amsterdam in the 1980s, Olaf began photographing the city’s nightlife and the gay liberation movement, exploring sexuality in stark black and white images.
In 1988 he completed a series of images called Chessmen. Comprising 32 sadomasochistic erotic tableaux inspired by medieval chess pieces, Chessmen crystallised the way he wanted to present his work: as a series of thematically linked, single photographs. It was his breakthrough moment and Olaf was awarded first prize in the 1988 Young European Photographer competition. A book of the work was published and his first major solo exhibition opened at Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany.
Despite his underground, radical beginnings, his sheer talent, mastery of the medium and innate affinity with the traditions of Dutch art soon meant he was embraced by the mainstream in his homeland. In 2013, he designed the new Dutch euro coins based on his portrait of King Willem-Alexander. He took the official state portraits of the Dutch royal family in 2018, which were turned into the royal Christmas card and issued as postage stamps. The following year, on his 60th birthday, there was a double exhibition of his work in The Hague, and one at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, featuring core work from the 500 items he donated to the museum.
Born Erwin Olaf Springveld in the town of Hilversum to Simon Springveld, a sales manager for an office supplies company, and Alida (nee Van ’t Hoff), he moved with the family to Hoevelaken in 1967 and attended secondary school in Amersfoort. In 1977 he enrolled at the School of Journalism in Utrecht, but in his second year, a photography tutor saw that Erwin was unhappy and invited him to one of his classes: “I felt comfortable with the medium immediately, [it] felt like a homecoming.”
After graduating in 1980, he assisted a photojournalist in Amsterdam for two years, while also documenting the gay scene. He loved the theatre of the clubs, the experimentation with persona and gender identity. He gained his first commission from Vinyl, a music magazine, and was published in queer magazines and newspapers.
But he wanted to create his own reality, his own surrealist dreamworld. He dropped his surname, and his 35mm Nikon camera, and bought a second-hand medium-format Hasselblad, which would bring a more formal quality to his edgy work.
Encouraged to be true to his own instincts by his then partner and muse, the militant gay activist Teun Frieszo, Olaf set up a rudimentary studio. He photographed friends from the queer scene and made money taking portraits but, following his success with Chessmen, finally had the freedom to explore his own artistic vision more fully.
He introduced colour and digital manipulation into his work, which became more expansive, characterised by forensic attention to detail. His team of assistants, wardrobe artists, location scouts and set builders helped him produce flawlessly lit and dressed images that depicted mysterious fairy tales, though behind each beautiful facade lies a fissure, signified by an uneasy pose or an incongruous detail.
He produced work for fashion magazines such as Vogue and Elle, and companies such as Heineken, Microsoft, Bottega Veneta and Diesel Jeans, for which he won the 1999 Silver Lion at the Cannes advertising festival. All the images he created were as worthy of being hung in museums as billboards.
Olaf’s personal work continued to be provocative: Mature (1999) depicts elderly women as sensual supermodels; Fashion Victims (2000) highlights the consumerism of designer labels; and Royal Blood (2000), a series of portraits showing historical figures who came to a sticky end, including a Princess Diana lookalike, explores the public fascination with fame and violence.
This century, he pared back the digital artifice and began to produce work that posed deeper philosophical questions, such as in the series Separation (2003), Hope (2005), Grief (2005) and Keyhole (2011). In Palm Springs (2018), shot in a stylised documentary fashion that juxtaposes models dressed in 1960s clothing within modern landscapes, “reality creeps into the paradise we’ve tried so hard to maintain”. Im Wald (2020) highlights the indifferent power of nature in the face of human arrogance.
From 2008 Olaf was represented in the UK by Hamiltons Gallery in Mayfair. In 2011 he received the Johannes Vermeer award, the Dutch state prize for the arts and, in 2019, was made a knight in the Order of the Netherlands Lion. His 2019 exhibitions coincided with the publication of a monograph, Erwin Olaf: I Am.
Due to hereditary emphysema, he underwent the lung transplant with the hope that it would lengthen his life. On his death, the Dutch royal family issued a statement mourning the nation’s loss of “a unique, exceptionally talented photographer and a great artist”. An artist who, from day one, made photographs inspired by a question posed by his photography tutor, a question he asked of himself and of his audience throughout his life: “What is normal?”
He is survived by his husband, Kevin Ray Edwards, whom he married in Amsterdam in 2016, and his brothers, Jos and Ron.
As a celebration of all things Porsche, the Porsche Rennsport Reunion is the event for the Porsche-devoted. Now in its seventh year, the multi-day event has become a sort of mecca amongst motorheads seeking to experience, discuss, and connect in what could be considered a combination of a car show with a motorsport event focused on the Porsche brand. Needless to say, there will be cars parked to admire and others moving rather quickly across the track. Of course, there’s also going to be plenty of Porsche branded merch on-site, including some strapping limited edition Aer x Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 backpacks and slings.
The small collection is represented by a backpack and sling, designed to honor the 75 years of the Porsche legacy. The limited edition bags don the sports car brand’s colors – Guards Red, Schwarz Black, Geyser Gray, Crayon, and Speed Yellow – with athletic contrast detailing across the zippers further embellished with “Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7” branding to ensure envy amongst friends.
The ballistic nylon exterior bags themselves are actually the Aer City Pack backpack and City Sling 2 restyled in new colors, so you can peep the features in its existing standard iterations here and here.
An interesting note for design lovers with a thing for Porsche: this year’s 2023 Rennsport Reunion 7 will be co-sponsored by Knoll (yes, that Knoll). The iconic furniture brand will be setting up the Knoll Terrace trackside for visitors to take in the event from the comfort of Knoll furnishings, all staged within the event’s Porschehaus. A fine pairing, indeed.
Speaking of pairs, Porsche Design has released special edition Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 Mirage Sport Tech Sneakers. A pair of these sneakers would complete the entire look in combination with one of those red backpacks or slings.
Just remember to pick up one of these limited edition Aer x Porsche Rennsport Reunion 7 Bags at the all ages event; these on-site exclusives won’t be available anywhere else outside the gates of WeatherTech Raceway in Monterey, California from September 28th through October 1st. More information here.
The Broomfield Photo Club met last week and discussed street photography where club members Carl Muehlemeyer, Tim Seibert, Gerry Case and Phil Castagneri displayed a selection of their photos taken at Denver Stock Show parades. The annual January event marks the opening of the National Western Stock Show that’s led by a small herd of longhorn cattle parading through the streets of downtown Denver. The club meets on the fourth Tuesday of every month, with its next meeting scheduled for Oct. 24. Meetings are also held via Zoom. To learn more about the club, visit facebook.com/photoclubbroomfield or contact Carl Muehlemeyer at 303-469-0537 or broomfielphotoclub@gmail.com.
A humble rock doubles as a savior in a new music video for The Chemical Brothers, featuring Beck. Directed by Pensacola and produced by Canada, “Skipping Like a Stone” opens with Kurt Steiner, a real-life record-breaking stone skipper shown with what appears to be his actual equipment, including a specialized tool case. After a series of impressive jumps across the water captured from increasingly spectacular perspectives, the individual rock launches into a fateful journey. Chaos and destruction ensue, although the stone plays good samaritan as it thwarts violence and saves several lives.
It’s worth reading Outside’s profile of Steiner from last fall, which dives into his incredibly precise technique shown in slow-motion in the video above.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article A Skipping Stone Hurtles Through Space as a Good Samaritan in a New Chemical Brothers Music Video appeared first on Colossal.
In recent years, many people have been asking, “Is it cake?” When it comes to billboards, there’s another age-old question: “Is it paint?”
For anyone who’s ever seen hand-painted ads in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, or Portland, Oregon, chances are high that they were done by Colossal Media. The company began in Brooklyn in 2004 with a goal to revive the once-dying art of sign painting, and has since expanded to 85 locations around the country, Jennifer Edelberg, VP at Colossal, told us. Clients over the years have included Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, and Gucci, which has its own designated wall in Manhattan in partnership with Colossal.
“We singlehandedly resurrected this craft,” Edelberg said, calling other companies that now offer hand-painted ads “an honor and a testament to how powerful the format is.”
With Colossal’s 20-year anniversary approaching, Edelberg walked us through the craftsmanship that’s been driving the company and keeping advertisers hooked for nearly two decades.
Edelberg credits Colossal’s ability to bring back hand-painted murals—which were once the norm in OOH advertising before fading into ghost signs—in part to its paid apprenticeship program. Apprentices in New York and LA, Colossal’s two biggest markets, spend about a year in the program alongside anywhere from one to 11 others. After graduating, he painters—informally known as “wall dogs”—can go on to work for Colossal either full-time or or part-time for a ”sustainable, long-term career in the arts” complete with benefits, Edelberg told us.
“We’re the only company in the world with a program like this—and you don’t even have to be an artist coming in,” she said.
What does Colossal look for in a potential painter? It goes beyond artistic talent.
The mural-painting world requires “a lot of heavy lifting, a lot of challenges, a lot of environmental adversity faced from snow to really hot temperatures,” Edelberg said, “so we don’t only look for individuals who are committed to and passionate about the arts, but also those who have a background in construction…we look for people who are committed to all the different elements of a job like this.”
Once in the program, artists are trained to develop a skill set rooted in tradition.
“How we sign paint is based on the same fundamental principles that were used by the early greats like Michelangelo, and how he painted the Sistine Chapel,” she said. “We have an exceptional level of quality.”
Colossal Media murals are often praised for their photorealism, a quality the company prides itself on. With some campaigns spanning multiple locations—like a recent Lil Nas X/Vitamin Water campaign in LA, Atlanta, and NYC—Edelberg said brands are given assurances that “the portraiture of the celebrity or anything we’re replicating will be exactly the same from state to state and mural to mural.”
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To get that realistic look, she said about three weeks of pre-production is needed for Colossal employees to pattern the artwork, color mix, burn butcher paper, and transfer a rough image outline onto the wall. From there, she said it takes about three days to paint a simple graphic and around 12 days for complex portraiture—a timeline that she says is roughly similar to lead times for traditional OOH installations.
All that work (and ensuring the real estate on which paintings can be placed, for which Colossal has a dedicated management team) doesn’t come cheap. The point-of-entry cost for a four-week-long mural (Colossal’s “minimum flight time”) is usually around $30,000 but can go as high as $200,000 depending on the size, according to Edelberg. Some companies go even bigger: Gucci, whose wall in Soho has its own tag on sites like Google Maps and Yelp, is on an annual contract, she told us.
“What we do is harder, it takes longer, it’s a premium experience, which also translates to something that’s oftentimes more expensive,” she said. “But every single time we paint a mural, we see people stop in their tracks to look or engage with the brand almost like it’s a live performance. The memorability, the stickiness of that is so powerful.”
Beyond the memorability—and the selfies and social posts often generated from installations—Edelberg said Colossal can also help generate buzz around its murals by incorporating mobile geofencing, QR codes, augmented reality, and shoppable experiences.
“The other really powerful thing about murals, aside from being very human and soulful and colorful, is its ability to really take on a cross-platform reach, and [generate] so many touch points from a single wall,” she said.
Fall tends to be the busiest time of year for Colossal Media, with back-to-school campaigns and fashion week leading into Q4 holiday campaigns.
As the firm approaches its 20-year anniversary, Colossal employees are thinking about how to redefine the company as a “cultural connector in the community,” not just an OOH advertiser, Edelberg said, while celebrating its success embracing a format with such a storied history.
“We’re just proud that we can continue to offer this as an opportunity for aspiring sign painters and that we can keep this craft and trade alive,” she said.
Humans have done a lot of horrifying things. But now the tables have turned, and the human race faces unprecedented peril, nature’s wrath after years of abuse. Photography can only grapple with the enormity of what is happening as the world that we know disappears.
The theme for this year’s Prix Pictet – one of the world’s top photo prizes – is Human. The prize has always favoured titanic themes, but the exhibition of this year’s shortlist of 12 is a spectacular and profoundly melancholy reckoning with what we humans have done, where it’s left us, and where we’re heading.
The winner of the 2023 Prix Pictet, announced at an award ceremony at the V&A on 28 September, is the Indian photographic artist Gauri Gill. Gill is the 10th photographer to pick up the 100,000 CHF (£89,700) prize and follows an illustrious list, including the last winner, Sally Mann.
Gill’s winning series, Notes from the Desert, began with an act of brutality she witnessed at a village school in rural Rajasthan, north India, when a girl was beaten by her teacher. Unable to shake the image, Gill took a month off work and left Delhi to return to Rajasthan and photograph the villages. At first her focus was the schools, but her project, which began in 1999 and is still not complete, quickly expanded to bear witness to life and death in the desert.
Over the years, Gill forged relationships with many of the villagers, and returned again and again. The taut selection of images on show are exquisitely printed, reminiscent of Graciela Iturbide’s black and white studies of Indigenous communities in Mexico in the 1970s, and suffused with the same kind of magical realism. Soft, tender and strange, the images also hold the harshness of the reality they show, a place that demands total self-reliance, and where, as Gill has said, “the stakes are high, the elements close, and life is as cheap as the jokes are rampant”.
The show is not without glimmers of hope – a literal glimmer, in the case of the show’s opener, a deeply moving and wistful series by Mexican photographer Yael Martínez. The shadowy surfaces of his nocturnal photographs glitter with dozens of dots of dazzling light, creating the effect of the eponymous Luciérnaga (Firefly), or recalling the constellations of candles held during rituals for the dead in Mexico. Martínez punctured prints of the images with pins, shone a torch through the holes, then photographed them again. The people in the pictures are escaping violence endemic in their communities in search of a better life. As the light perforates the darkness in paroxysms of positive energy, the images are transformed – a metaphor for the way humans can turn things around, how the soul resists and flourishes, in spite of the body.
From poetry to putrefaction: the Colombian photojournalist Federico Rios Escobar, known for his documentation of Farc in the jungle and gangs in El Salvador, presents a series called Paths of Desperate Hope. Shot at the Darién Gap, the region that connects Colombia to Panama, last year Escobar followed migrants – forced from their homes due to climate change, economic desperation and conflict – as they made a treacherous trek from a beach town in Colombia to a government camp in Panama. One image depicts a body dredged from the river, maggot-infested and bloated by the water, barely recognisable as human. Just as devastating is the inconclusiveness of Escobar’s project. “I’ll never know how many of those we met made it – and how many didn’t,” he said.
But humans can surprise us – and photography still has the power to lay us bare and connect us. The idea for The Garden by British artist Siân Davey came from her son: replant the abandoned garden at the family home in Devon, and invite people they met over the back wall to come and be photographed. The garden became a “confessional space” for Davey as she photographed her subjects; the stories remain private but we project them into the lush, large-scale, full-colour prints, the verdant bounty of Davey’s garden in full bloom framing the perfectly imperfect, semi-clad bodies that hold each other.
Two distinct and equally powerful bodies of work focus on children, perhaps the show’s only hints at optimism. Vasantha Yogananthan photographed children born after Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. Partly posed, partly freestyle, the portraits convey the essence of childhood days, carefree – unaware of the disasters that have come before and are possibly yet to come.
In contrast is a suite of jewel-like black and white prints of young schoolgirls in the Turkish region of Eastern Anatolia by Vanessa Winship. The girls, in their austere uniforms and homemade haircuts, seem to be from another time. Getting an education, for girls living here, is not easy. The hardship comes at you through the details: the battered residential buildings behind the girls, the brittle earth beneath scuffed shoes. But commemorated in pictures, the occasion is no less momentous than children heading off to their first day at school anywhere – even in black and white, these girls are radiant with promise.
Human is an exhilarating viewing experience. It is a show about human persistence as much as it is about the urgency of the climate crisis. It is about greed, and love. It is about our mortality. And it is scary. But if the camera is a sincere witness, how could it tell us anything else?
Back in 2012, Dan Mazzarini launched BHDM Design, and since has added ARCHIVE by Dan Mazzarini as a “blogazine” extension of the brand. As Principal and Creative Director, he tells stories through built environments, hotels, restaurants, startups, corporate interiors, single and multi-family homes, and far more. Dan and his team use a “hospitality-forward” approach to projects, creating compelling, unique narratives with elements of surprise and delight throughout the user experience.
“I remember sneaking into the Hudson Hotel, designed by Philippe Starck, a few months after it opened. I was an underaged midwestern kid on a college weekend in NYC – and definitely looked it. I remember taking the escalator up to the lobby, walking through the sexy, moody hallway to the library bar and entering a bustling scene. I ordered a Merlot (can you imagine?!) and stood back and watched… all of it happening. At that moment I realized the importance that design could have on a space, and set my sights on creating spaces that people wanted to be a part of,” Dan said of the moment he knew design was the road he was meant to travel.
Throughout his career, Dan has worked in historic spaces like Grand Central Terminal and the Harvard Club of New York, and helped to create new concepts for Google, One Medical, Hudson’s Bay Company, and Target. He’s also worked with heritage brands such as Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade, and Calvin Klein, and has aided in defining new brands like Tend, Real, and Casper.
He’s put in all the work, but there are others who have been instrumental in helping Dan arrive at where he is today. “My parents both supported my creative talent and taught me the importance of ambition and hard work. They both worked full time jobs, and taught me the value of rolling up your sleeves and putting your heart into what you do everyday,” he shared.
“My first bosses, Robin Kramer and Philip Rosenzweig, trusted me with far more responsibility than my experience deserved. They taught me the ins and outs of retail, how to build brands, and how to treat people with kindness,” Dan said. “Robin taught me so much about how I speak about and sell our work. They were the best and most formative people I could have started my career with, and I’m still grateful.”
Last, but not least, “Brian Humphrey, with whom I started BHDM. Brian and I have a 20-year friendship, and I am forever honored to work beside him. He is the most creative and visionary person I’ve worked with – while I can sketch, sell, and do a lot of talking with my hands, he is the superlative at quietly conjuring up images of spaces that are unique, inspired, and beautiful. He’s the best, and I love working with him.”
Now, Dan is bringing his designs, ideas, tips, and favorite essentials directly to you with the launch of ARCHIVE by Dan Mazzarini, a “blogazine” providing a curated selection of home and lifestyle products, all shopped from his favorite resources. Through ARCHIVE, he’s able to educate, encourage, and inspire a broader network of consumers who want to incorporate luxury to their everyday living.
Today, Dan Mazzarini joins us for Friday Five!
Photo: Amy Neunsinger for Architectural Digest
A goddess at her game, I’ve been watching and daydreaming about Nancy Meyers movies for 25 years. She seems to not only capture relatable emotion, but paints the most pitch-perfect settings in all her movies. If I had it to do all over again, I’d love to work with her in Hollywood. Wouldn’t that be the best?
Photos courtesy Hotel Costes
I have such fond memories of this space. The Jacques Garcia designed portion was the first hotel I stayed at in Paris (thank you, Ralph Lauren…) and since, I’ve brought so many people that I love to visit. It’s moody and sumptuous, lavish and seductive – so foreign from anything in the States. It feels like it’s been there for a hundred years. Oh – and the candles have become a signature scent, I buy them by the case.
Photo: Dan Mazzarini
Scatter my ashes at March. While I’ve yet to meet Sam Hamilton, the store’s founder and creative guru, I’m indebted to her vision. NorCal indoor/outdoor meets the peak of chic in the carefully curated finds she brings to her store. Custom splatterware, bespoke flatware, and other tabletop are all seasonally complemented with unique finds and art. And set against a black and white and neutral backdrop? Ooooolala!
Photo: Adam Macchia
I met Michael when I was working at Ralph Lauren. He creates beautiful, architectural-feeling line art that I use in our work all the time. It seems to fit in all settings and to top it off, he’s just the sweetest guy.
Photo: Reid Rolls
I know, I know – everyone wears them now, but I can’t give up my Stan Smiths. I have multiple pairs of a vintage red and white polka dot version by Pharrell (which I have stockpiled from eBay.) They’re comfy and classic, and yes, I wear them with a suit.
Modern Catskills A-Frame When a young NYC-based couple purchased this treasured Catskills A-Frame, they entrusted BHDM to breathe fresh life into the 1970s home. The two-bedroom retreat, complete with a loft office that functions as additional sleeping quarters, yields contemporary elements while protecting the charm of the original home. Nestled into the snowy Belleayre mountain, the A-Frame is tailored to complement and capture its surrounding landscape. Designed by architect Ikuyo Tagawa nearly 50 years ago, 27 skylight windows are built into the steep-pitched roof to capture glimpses of vibrant foliage and snowy peaks. Newly installed metal and glass framing hone those sight lines without compromising visual and acoustic privacy. The home’s sound bones were left intact, including its distinctive windows and original end-grain floors, allowing BHDM to embrace its quirks with complementary modern additions. As the home was constructed to blend into the landscape, much of the furniture throughout quietly complements the home’s surrounding nature. Photo: Tim Williams
East Hampton Residence For this space, our goal was to create a chic space where our client could work remotely – something we’ve of course seen more and more of over the past few years. To do this, we incorporated dark, textured walls that contrast with the brightness of the rest of the house. Sculptural light above adds interest and modernity, while a textured jute rug anchors the office and softens the overall aesthetic. Photo: Adam Mecchia
Hyatt Regency SoMa in San Francisco BHDM envisioned the reimagination of the hotel through an art-centric lens, utilizing a defined palette of textures and motifs while seeking inspiration from its location in the heart of San Francisco’s Art District. Throughout the public spaces, as well as the guest rooms, the notion of an architectural ‘grid’ is a leitmotif, represented in applications from terrazzo floors to ceiling treatments, fabrics, and carpets. Rope and weaving, ceramics and sculpture, painting and sketching, and more are influences found throughout. As art is a defining brand pillar for the hotel, it was important that BHDM incorporated the work of local artists in its design. In forming a partnership with The Academy of Art University of San Francisco, they were able to secure original custom art by local students and alumni. Photo: Reid Rolls
