Erwin Olaf felt more vulnerable than ever. Physically – Erwin had emphysema – and professionally: ‘In April 2020 it was the first time that people did not answer the phone and did not answer my emails. I thought I was going bankrupt.’ By creating the April Fool series, the artist took matters into his own hands again. “I regained control and felt so much better.”

In the 1980s, Erwin Olaf studied journalism in Utrecht. He was not happy. A teacher put a camera in his hands and changed his life. “I loved that thing from the start: the weight, the cool metal in my hand. It felt very natural. And when I took my first photos, I knew I had found my profession.”

This photo artwork by Erwin Olaf is called Im Wald, Im Nebel and is part of a series about nature. Erwin Olaf wanted to show the power of nature. He normally made his works in a studio. He had to go outside for this series. When Erwin Olaf was ready to take the photo, the fog suddenly rose. Where the photographer normally left nothing to chance, this time he embraced it.