The First Movement: Erwin Olaf, by Thomas Werner for IRKmagazine

Photo By Erwin Olaf

Drawn in by considered articulation and subjugated by beauty I am engulfed, or perhaps immobilized is a better word, by images that feel extraordinarily personal yet distant, untouchable. It is a visceral moment, much like being enveloped by a perfect rendition of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, an experience that is both sensory and intellectual. It is with this in mind that I wait to talk with photographer Erwin Olaf, envisioning the same icy precision with a healthy dose of humanities shared melancholy that fills his images.

It is said that Olaf conceals the themes of his photographs, but he is telling his story, one that over the course of his career has also been our story. Not one of a sad or distant world, but one beginning with a young man filled with the aggressive exploration of youth, sexuality, and his place in the world followed by the evolution into manhood and the moment when mortality begins to confront us with the reality of our time frame and the early signs of physical limitations. Yet these are not solely the explorations of an individual, they are larger conversations of a society and culture. This is an elegant dialog filled with contemplative narratives where the audience can find meaning not only in beauty, but in the cracks that run through the characters and emotion filled spaces...

Read the entire article at IRK Magazine:

https://www.irkmagazine.com/post/the-first-movement-erwin-olaf-by-thomas-werner?fbclid=IwAR2HtheLP9M117gwL3RT72vQ4DV1fKiXBzwYtionzDKs8bfyNX655WjA7yg