April Fool Film

Can you remember how the first lockdown felt? For renowned photographer Erwin Olaf it came as a shock. ‘For weeks on end I felt powerless, afraid and hopeless, like an extra in a scary movie. The empty shelves, plundered by hoarders, made me think that it was to be forever.’

Did you spend the first lockdown with loved ones, family or roommates? Or all alone? Dinner time must have been the loneliest because food is usually such a social thing.

Do you ever eat alone? And if you do, do you set the table and light a candle? Or is it a quick standing meal straight out of the pan? Most people hate eating by themselves, they don’t make an effort and quickly shove some food down. Others really enjoy it and even go out to a restaurant by themselves!

The person in the video listens to the radio. News from all over the world can be heard. Erwin wanted to show that even though you might have felt alone, it was a global crisis which we were in together.

Erwin felt more vulnerable than ever. Physically -he suffers from emphysema- and financially: ‘April 2020 was the first time in which people didn’t answer their phone and ignored my emails. I thought I would go bankrupt. The making of the April Fool series helped me regain control.’

At first glance the early work of Erwin looks like slick fashion photography. Until you look a bit closer. ‘What I like to show most of all is a flawed perfect world. I want to create an image temptative enough to draw you in and then to slap you in the face.’

Erwin based his costume on an old photo he found. On it a very sad looking clown with his face painted white and wearing a ‘Dunce’ hat. For Erwin the hat depicts ‘the stupidity of mankind’.

After having photographed for years Erwin is taking on video more and more. After having made the photography series ‘April Fool’ he felt something was missing. He needed moving image because he felt like an extra in a bad movie.

The ‘extra’ in the video is Erwin Olaf himself. ‘Nice and cheap’ he jokes. ‘No, it is grown this way. What I want to convey and who I am is becoming more and more the same thing.’

Erwin is also known for his portraits of the Dutch royal family. He photographed them multiple times. ‘I am proud because the royals connect people’ he says.