SURFACE by Søren Solkær: Portraits of Street Artists with their Work

SURFACE: Portraits of Street Artists is a new book and art exhibit by the acclaimed Danish photographer Søren Solkær. Turning his lens to street artists and their work, Solkær spent three years traveling internationally to create 135 portraits of artists based in locales such as Copenhagen, Miami, Athens, and Melbourne. To give each picture a sense of drama, Solkær enhanced the shots with “stage” direction and sometimes artificial lighting, masks, and props. The resulting images show the artist’s interacting with their completed work in a dynamic, open way, while also, at times, concealing their identities.

The art show adds another layer to SURFACE (pun intended). The gallery, Subliminal Projects, reached out to fourteen of the graffiti artists in the series, inviting them to create self-portraits based on Solkær’s work. The photography and the accompanying artwork will launch at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday, April 25, 2015, in conjunction with the book’s debut in the USA.