The Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is presently internet hosting “Freedom,” the largest-ever retrospective of Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf (1959-2023). Spanning 4 many years, the exhibition reveals an artist whose meticulously staged pictures remodeled pictures into theater, charged with magnificence, rigidity and management. From early portraits of nightlife and queerness to his later reflections on energy and vulnerability, Olaf’s lens captured each the poise and fragility of human presence.
For Olaf, dance was inseparable from pictures. The turning level got here in 1984 when he met Hans van Manen, already an internationally acclaimed choreographer and photographer, who instantly acknowledged the youthful artist’s intuition for composition. Their assembly marked the start of a long-lasting friendship and creative dialogue. Dance provided Olaf a language of self-discipline and precision: every motion, like every body, needed to be deliberate. His excessive close-ups of dancers turned flesh into sculpture, revealing the pressure, class and sheer labor of efficiency.
To coincide with the exhibition, Observer met Hans van Manen to revisit these early encounters and the artistic partnership that formed their practices. In our dialog, he displays on their trade, the teachings of sunshine and the choreography behind each {photograph}.
Let’s return to the beginning: when did you first meet Erwin Olaf and what struck you about him?
Greater than 40 years in the past. Erwin was working as a journalist for Sek, a queer journal then. He got here to {photograph} me for an interview, and we began speaking instantly. The next month, I photographed him. We had no cash on the time, however I nonetheless bear in mind when he bought his first Hasselblad digicam. That’s a giant second for any photographer. From then on, we had a incredible relationship. We talked about pictures continually.
He was 24 then. How do you bear in mind him at that age?
Very interested by artwork and pictures. When he got here into my home, he was shocked by what was on the partitions. I had an essential assortment of Robert Mapplethorpe pictures, which I later gave to the Rijksmuseum.
Folks typically name you a mentor in his seek for a voice.
We all the time exchanged concepts, and I had loads to say about what he photographed. Not criticism, extra like actual dialog. Erwin might have favored calling me a mentor, however I wouldn’t describe myself that method. We had a deep friendship from the start till his dying.
However you launched him to fantastic artwork pictures…
I talked to him concerning the energy of approach and the magic of sunshine. Generally one gentle is sufficient to create miracles. I developed 150 ballets and infrequently did the lighting design, so I do know gentle. For me, it wasn’t troublesome to get it proper once I photographed. Erwin used gentle in a different way as a result of he labored on a big scale, which demanded one other strategy. Should you examine his early and late footage, you see how his lighting advanced. Method is important, however when you grasp it, you must add your character. You need to put your self in.
How did Olaf affect you?
Not a lot in my work. I knew what I needed, and he knew what he needed. He most popular listening to talking. He would possibly present me ten footage, I’d give suggestions, however he wasn’t very important of me. Additionally, he confirmed me greater than I confirmed him.
Let’s converse concerning the exhibition on the Stedelijk.
I’m positive it will likely be an ideal success. Many individuals who’ve by no means seen Erwin’s footage will uncover his work. I attempt to perceive how onerous it’s to prepare a retrospective. How do you current an entire life and divide it into rooms? It’s troublesome to create a balanced rhythm with pictures. Some elements really feel full, others minimal. Some good footage are lacking, too. I’m strict as a result of I’ve seen all of them.
How about its title, “Freedom?”
Erwin was a freethinker, completely emancipated, and that drove him. From the nightclubs to the battle for equal rights and activism. However there’s all the time a fantastic line between somebody’s life, his work and what results in an exhibition.
Some footage sparked debate on the time for being controversial. How did he deal with criticism?
We photographed many nude males, and we discovered it regular. Early on, there have been dangerous feedback as a result of individuals interpreted the photographs in silly methods, however that modified during the last 20 years. Erwin additionally photographed many nude girls, in such a stupendous method that no different photographer within the Netherlands did. In fact, individuals largely speak concerning the males.
Within the exhibition, there’s a bit on dance, together with Dance in Shut-Up, made in your ninetieth birthday. What stays with you from making it?
I spent three weeks displaying Erwin documentation of all my ballets, and he selected what to make use of. Then we spent a full week within the studio with the dancers. I directed them, and Erwin made the images. It was an ideal coordination, and the photographs turned a incredible e book. Within the present, there are solely slow-motion movies from my works Trois Gnossiennes and Two Items for HET. They’re lovely, however they weren’t simple to movie. You need to be exact with the dancers’ positions. One video has a carry, the opposite a pirouette. You have to give precise instructions on when and the place to begin and cease. The dancers want particular vitality for a spotless consequence. These are very technical works. Erwin was all the time good with video.
This was your final undertaking collectively…
He cherished my ballets, and this was in all probability probably the most summary undertaking he ever did. He often had a factor for storytelling, however not right here. On the final day, I informed him, let’s take an image the place we bow. So we stood there, hand in hand like we have been on stage, as if all the pieces had completed after seven days of onerous work. It’s not simple to be current up there for therefore lengthy.
His pictures are theatrical by design. Did he get pleasure from directing individuals on set?
In fact. Should you look carefully, you could find him in all the small print. He knew learn how to compose lovely footage. I consider his Im Wald collection within the Bavarian woods. I’ve by no means seen woods like that. Nature is huge, and there’s just one small human. Due to that scale, you are feeling how majestic the place is. It’s very poetic. He had many such footage. That non-public work ran alongside the commissions and exhibits the distinction between a ‘photographer’ and an ‘artist’.
Olaf as soon as stated, “I’ve develop into my pictures. What I create is me.” What do you want individuals understood about him past the photographs?
That he was open-minded and proactive. He all the time stated what he needed. I bear in mind he as soon as spat in somebody’s face as a result of the person stated one thing horrible. I informed Erwin he was unsuitable and the one factor to do was apologize. A month later, he did. He was affordable in the long run. He spoke with the person, they usually settled it. He went far in all the pieces he did in public. An exhibition offers solely a tiny sense of who he was. A incredible individual. I cherished him very a lot.
Since his passing, has your reminiscence of him modified the way in which you watch dance or have a look at pictures?
The final time I noticed him, he had so many concepts—some critical and a few scandalous—and he shared them from his hospital mattress. It was deeply transferring. He was the one individual I may actually speak to about pictures. It’s unusual that he isn’t right here, unusual to speak about footage that aren’t there. In choreography, I all the time set the beginning and the end so the piece holds. I attempt to give my reminiscences of him the identical construction, or they collapse.
Erwin Olaf’s “Freedom” is on view on the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam by means of March 1, 2026.
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