The famous Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf has died at the age of 64. The ANP news agency reported this on Wednesday based on its management. The death comes a few weeks after a lung transplant. “He was recovering, but suddenly became unwell and resuscitation was of no avail,” his family wrote in a statement.
Olaf was known for his portraits, which sometimes look like a film still and sometimes like expertly lit mugshot. Some of his work is strongly sexual, such as his first self-portrait, where Olaf poses with semen on his face. In return for NRC he said that in later work he came to understand the motivation behind his self-portraits: “I am doing therapy.”
In addition to independent work, Olaf did commercial work, such as for telephone manufacturer Nokia, beer brand Heineken and car maker BMW. Also the most recent state portraits of the royal couple are by Erwin Olaf.
Olaf received a series of prizes and titles for his work, including membership of the Academy of Arts, the Johannes Vermeer Prize in 2011 and a medal of honor for Art and Science last March. His double exhibition in The Hague in 2019 was the most visited photo exhibition ever in the Netherlands.
Also read Erwin Olaf about 33 years of self-portraits: ‘You mainly change mentally’