Olivier Silva by Rineke Dijkstra
Since Rineke Dijkstra first began exhibiting her photographic work as an artist in 1992, she has developed an international reputation as the most visible and highly regarded Dutch artist of her generation. Dijkstra’s color photographic portraits of children and adolescents, alone and in small groups, are characterized by a remarkable formal classicism, psychological depth, and conceptual rigor. In many respects, the Dijkstra's seemingly detached, unflinching eye and her almost clinical attention to detail can be understood in documentary terms. Taken as a whole, Dijkstra’s project might be understood as a quasi-scientific, cross-cultural, sociological study of human behavior in front of a camera. Indeed, the artist responds to a significant art-historical lineage, from the encyclopedic efforts of August Sander to the eccentric visions of Diane Arbus, in her approach to portrait photography. Dijkstra’s efforts are distinguished, however, by her almost singular devotion to producing empathic works of art. Says the artist: "For me it is essential to understand that everyone is alone. Not in the sense of loneliness, but rather in the sense that no one can completely understand someone else. I want to awaken definite sympathies for the person I have photographed."
[This message was edited Wed Aug 4 6:43:38 2004 by gooeythehamster]

who are they?

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

LoL I forgot the text. They are all Olivier Silva. Dijkstra followed him from the moment he joined the French legionaires.

That first pic is just before he joined, another (not pictured here) shows him minutes after he got his head shaved and put on his new uniform for the first time.

Dijkstra follws people going through a difficult period in their lives.

She has series of teens and moms that just gave birth. Her pics are amazing. I read somehwere she directed Madonna's American Pie, but I am not sure...

Through portraiture, Dijkstra examines adolescence and our nostalgia for the emotions attached to it as the keystone of contemporary experience. With influences as diverse as August Sander and Diane Arbus, Dijkstra's color portraits of youth on the beach, at school, or in the storage closet of a dance club resound with the awkwardness of the subjects' acute self-awareness of budding personality. The simple beauty of this Dutch artist's vision is matched on every level by its profundity. This past year, an image from the well-known beach series was hung at New York's Museum of Modern Art next to C zanne's iconographic bather; happily, this work will give anyone studying the dialog between painting and photography the chance to similarly view Dijkstra's varied oeuvre. Recommended for all art and photography collections.

Doug McClemont, New York
[This message was edited Wed Aug 4 6:32:51 2004 by gooeythehamster]

For me... has to be MarySharon!

A series of five pictures hangs at the Museum Of Modern Art in Paris (where I used to live).
The pics are HUGE in real life and very impressive.

She also did a series on Spanish bullfighters, just after they came out of the ring. Of course, there is something to be said about bullfighting, but the pics focus on the fighters, not the so-called sport.

kendogg said:

She throws wicked Prince parties...

Handclapsfingasnapz said:

And of course the title refers to me being smitten with the IMAGE of this young man. There is something about gay guys and uniforms.

But on an artful level I see the series develop; the first pic shows Silva as a young man without any notion of grown up life, the rest of the series, taken over a timespan of three years, show him change into a firm adult, his eyes less innocent.

This is the entire series, up til now...

kendogg said:

I'm not in the army yet but it's too kind of u Kendogg You such a sweetheart

MarySharon said:

I cannot allow shameless flirting on my thread!

gooeythehamster said:

He should never have gone to the army, look what it did to that wonderfull boy, turned him into a horrible guy

mmm... would like to see more of her work...

the uniform and the expression of his face distort the objective view of a boy growing up.

the guys look like nazi youth

gooeythehamster said:

Being kind is not flirting!
[This message was edited Wed Aug 4 15:42:27 2004 by MarySharon]

Milty said:

Don't be jealous....

I still fancy you too!

dawntreader said:

Use a google search on RINEKE DIJKSTRA, loads of pics will pop up that will give you a view on her work.

MarySharon said:

But still. All this thread jacking!

I never do anyting of the sort!