I Wish, I AM, I Will Be, 2009 Portfolio

Internationally acclaimed Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf delivers a strong emotional impact with his highly stylized mode of image-making. On the occasion of his fiftieth birthday, the artist turned his lens on himself, creating a series of illustrative self-portraits to mark the occasion. With self-explanatory titles, the works in the Self Portrait—50 Years Old series depict how the artist looks now, how he wishes he looked now and forecasts how he will look in the future. Olaf speaks not only to his own aging but to our culture's obsession with youth and beauty and the prevalent use of post-production techniques like Photoshop, particularly in the world of fashion photography to create unrealistic notions and expectations of those very things.

Portfolio of Three C-Prints, printed in the artist’s studio, encased in a cloth clamshell box
Edition of 35
Paper Size: 13 3/4 x 10 7/8 inches
Image Size: 13 x 10 inches
Signed and numbered by the artist

Prints included in this portfolio:
I Wish
I AM
I Will Be

Erwin Olaf (b. 1959, Hilversum, The Netherlands) is a Dutch photographer known for his highly stylized, daring, and often provocative work addressing social issues and taboos. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Johannes Vermeer Award (2011), a Lucie Award (2008), and Photographer of the Year in the International Color Awards (2006). Among other accolades, Olaf received the commission to design the new national side of the Dutch Euro, launched in 2013. In 2008 and 2014, Aperture published volumes one and two of Olaf’s self-titled monographs. Erwin Olaf: I Am was published by Aperture in 2019 to accompany the most extensive retrospective of his work to date, a multiple-venue show that encompassed installations at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Gemeentemuseum Den Haag; and Fotomuseum Den Haag.