Erwin Olaf

The incredible creative Erwin Olaf Springveld is a photographer and an internationally exhibiting artist. He is known for focusing his work around society’s marginalised individuals, and in 2019 he became a Knight of the Order of the Lion of the Netherlands after 500 works of his were added to the collection of Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum.

Born and raised in the Netherlands, Olaf grew up with a love for art and photography. He initially trained as a journalist attending the School of Journalism in Utrecht, but after graduating decided to focus on photography. Since then he has gone on to collaborate with a number of prestigious brands, including Vogue, Levi’s, Microsoft, Louis Vuitton, and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In 2014 he designed the national side of the Dutch euro coins, and in 2017 he served as the official portrait artist for the Dutch royal family. He has been presented with the Netherlands’s Johannes Vermeer Award, as well as Photographer of the Year at the International Colour Awards, and was named Kunstbeeld magazine’s Dutch Artist of the Year.

Olaf has exhibited across the globe in such places as the Centro de Arte Contemporáneo de Málaga in Spain, the Museu da Imagem e do Som in Brazil, at Berlin’s Martin-Gropius-Bau, as well as at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in North Carolina, and at the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Chile.

Olaf regularly connects with his legions of followers and fans through Instagram, and Facebook, posting pictures and comments about his creative life. He also has an official website, erwinolaf.com.