Olaf Heine: Leaving the Comfort Zone. Photographs 1991-2008

“Olaf is blessed with a clear and inescapable German eye. You better run, or fight back.” Iggy Pop

Olaf Heine (*1968 in Hannover) is one of today’s most successful and sought-after portrait photographers. The list of the musicians, actors, athletes, and writers he has taken portraits of is sheer endless. Despite their fame, which can indeed be felt, they appear human, sensitive, vulnerable, and approachable. “I stage many of my photo shoots and let the artists slip into a variety of roles.”

The photographs relate stories about modern city-dwellers. They are snapshots from films that were never made. Some of the images seem familiar. They adorn numerous album covers, have appeared as photo spreads in magazines and international advertising campaigns, or can be found in Heine’s own music videos.

Comprising over one hundred works selected by the artist, this publication presents a survey of his wide-ranging oeuvre and also shows a small selection of Heine’s less-known and more personal works, including landscapes, still lifes, and architecture photographs.