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ABOUT
Søren Solkær, born in 1969 in Denmark, is a distinguished photographer whose career spans over three decades, marked by a compelling exploration of artistic and cultural portraiture. After earning his degree in Nordic Literature, Søren pursued formal training in photography at the esteemed FAMU Photography and Film Academy in Prague, graduating in 1995. His academic background and creative spirit have fueled a prolific career characterized by extensive travel and deep artistic engagement.
Solkær is renowned for his striking portraits of iconic figures from diverse creative fields, including music, film, literature, and visual arts. His portfolio features captivating images of influential artists such as Björk, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Patti Smith, Pharrell Williams, Samuel L. Jackson, and David Lynch. Over the years, he has published nine acclaimed books and has exhibited his work in prestigious museums and galleries across the globe.
In his recent venture, the Black Sun project, Søren Solkær shifts his focus from portraiture to the natural landscape of his upbringing in Southern Denmark. For six years, he has immersed himself in the study of starling (Sturnus vulgaris) migrations, capturing their mesmerising murmurations as they traverse Europe—from Denmark and England to Ireland, the Netherlands, and along the Wadden Sea, continuing through Sardinia, Rome, Italy, and Catalonia, Spain.
Drawing visual inspiration from calligraphy, traditional landscape paintings, and Japanese woodcuts, Solkær approaches this phenomenon with a blend of mythological and scientific perspectives. His work in the Black Sun series presents an extraordinary visual narrative where large-scale starling flocks perform dramatic aerial displays. These murmurations are depicted with a unique graphic quality, akin to ink drawings or calligraphic brush strokes, asserting themselves against the vast sky.
Solkær’s images reveal the starlings’ collective movement as a unified organism, reflecting their remarkable coordination and resilience in the face of external threats. The resulting visual expressions range from meditative to intensely dramatic, showcasing the starlings’ intricate ballet of life and death. The black lines and abstract shapes formed within the swarms resemble waves of interference or mathematical abstractions, creating a striking contrast against the horizon and underscoring the ethereal beauty of this natural phenomenon.
Through the Black Sun project, Søren Solkær transcends traditional portraiture, offering a profound exploration of nature’s own performance art, captured through the lens of his artistic vision and deepened by his cultural and philosophical insights.
BOOKS/MONOGRAPHS
Beat City ISBN: 978-8790575069
Souls ISBN: 978-8799297818
Closer (hardcover) ISBN: 978-8799297801
Closer (paperback) ISBN: 978-8799297825
Rockens ikoner: fra Stones til Winehouse ISBN: 978-8292072141
Surface ISBN: 978-8799297856
Søren Solkær: Portraits 1993-2018 ISBN: 978-8799297863
Black Sun (hardcover) ISBN: 978-8799297887
Black Sun (paperback) ISBN: 978-8799297849
Passage (hardcover) ISBN: 978-8797267721
Starling (hardcover) ISBN: 978-8799297849
FILM
DW Euromaxx (4:33) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlmfUCgku5c
DR A picture of Søren Solkær. (29:36) https://www.sorensolkaer.com/video/1013
Søren Solkær X Bhutan X Fujifilm (7:19) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMHEaJvFUzA
SørenSolkær X Highland Park 26 years (2:05) https://vimeo.com/337871497
