Who is Søren Solkaer?
Søren Solkær, born 1969, is a renowned Danish art photographer. He studied photography at the FAMU Academy in Prague until 1995. He gained international fame primarily for his distinctive portraits of famous faces in the music and film industries, including Paul McCartney, David Lynch, Amy Winehouse and Adele.
He published a total of six books on art photography from 2006: Beat City, CLOSER, SOULS, SURFACE, Portraits 1993-2018 and Black Sun.
In 2015, he launched "SURFACE", a portrait project on the pioneering icons of public art. The publication covers over 135 street artists, including portraits of Shepard FaireyBlek le Rat, D*Face, Ron English, FAILE, The London Police, Niels Shoe Meulman, Swoon and Vhils.
Søren's works have been exhibited worldwide, including in New York, Copenhagen, Sydney and Kyoto. His photographs are in the permanent collection of the Royal Danish Library and the National Portrait Collection at Frederiksborg Castle, Denmark.
What is the "SURFACE" project by Solkaer?
"SURFACE" is the result of a three-year journey to the creative locations of the street art scene, such as London, Los Angeles, Miami, Sydney, Melbourne, Amsterdam, New York, Vancouver, Copenhagen and many more.
"SURFACE" was created in Sørens Solkaer's distinctive style, his portraits influenced by cinematography and painting. Through elaborately staged on-site lighting and a strong element of storytelling, he creates images with an atmosphere of hyperrealism - a kind of imaginary film scene. Each artist is portrayed in the context of their own artwork, often with a mask or props to conceal their identity.
At MUCA was the solo exhibition "SURFACE". on view from November 2018 to April 2019.
Søren Solkaer in the "25 Years" exhibition at MUCA Munich
The anniversary show (06.10.2023 - 10.09.2023) featured a portrait by Canadian artist Richard Hambleton, the "Godfather of Street Art", issued.
The haunting photograph by Sören Solkaer from the SURFACES project was taken shortly before Hambleton's death in 2017.
