Erwin Olaf
(Hilversum 1959)
Dawn Portfolio (from the Dusk & Dawn Series)
Portfolio consisting of 6 prints:
The Mother
Portrait 1
Portrait 2
The Soldier
Still Life 1
Still Life 2
Each signed, dated 2010 and numbered 3/15 on the reverse
Each mount signed, dated 2010 and numbered 3/15 lower left
Each 21 x 36 cm (photo) / 36.1 x 43 cm (mount)
In original clamshell velvet portfolio case with a small print of The Soldier on the cover, H. 39.2 x W. 46.1 x D. 4.8 cm
Provenance:
Private collection, the Netherlands
Note:
Erwin Olaf’s two-part series Dusk and Dawn (2010) was shot in two contrasting halves. Dusk shows middle-class African Americans in early twentieth century settings and is shot in distinctively black-on-black. The Dawn series shows Russians pictured from the same era, in an extremely pale palette. Olaf claims he was inspired for Dusk and Dawn by the work of nineteenth century photographer Frances B. Dusk’s focus on African-American subjects is extended in Dawn, which centralises pale-skinned subjects in stark, blindingly white spaces.