Starling
Internationally-acclaimed Danish photographer Søren Solkær – best known for his iconic portraits of artists such as Björk, Paul McCartney, Amy Winehouse, Patti Smith, Pharrell Williams, Samuel L. Jackson and David Lynch – is set to release his 9th photographic monograph, Starling, on 26th December 2023. The images continue his photographic exploration of starling murmurations, a phenomenon known in Denmark as ‘Black Sun’.
Photography Søren Solkær
Starling serves as the sequel to Solkær's international bestseller, Black Sun, which showcased his images of starling murmurations, a phenomenon known in Denmark as ‘black sun’. Black Sun gained global recognition, receiving extensive coverage in publications such as The New York Times, National Geographic, Wired, The Guardian, The Observer, Wall Street Journal, Sunday Times, and more. The project was also exhibited in museums around the world, including Los Angeles, Kyoto, Sydney and Seattle.
With Starling, Solkær continues his photographic exploration of starlings, a passion he first encountered as a child, growing up in the southern part of Denmark, where he experienced the captivating formations near the Wadden Sea.
After photographing this fascinating phenomenon for three years in the marshlands of Denmark, Solkær has since expanded his scope to trace the starlings along their migration routes through Europe, from Ireland and England to the Netherlands and Italy.
In addition to capturing these murmurations in the sky, Solkær also conducts close studies of starling feathers at the cellular level. He has created two new series of photographs of starling feathers, captured at the Panum Institute in Copenhagen, using light and electron microscopes. This exploration seeks to determine whether universality can be found at the cellular level. Just as Solkær has attempted to identify universal patterns in flocks of hundreds of thousands of starlings, he now endeavours to closely examine the beauty and magic within a fragment of a feather.
Inspired by classical landscape painting, calligraphy, and Japanese woodcuts, Solkær has created a series of graphic images featuring landscape and great flocks of starlings as they perform an unrivalled display of collaboration and aerial skills. The starlings move as one unified organism that vigorously opposes any outside threat. As Solkær himself notes:
‘A strong visual expression is created – like that of an ink drawing or a calligraphic brush stroke – asserting itself against the sky. Shapes and black lines of condensation form within the swarm, resembling waves of interference or mathematical abstractions written across the horizon. The graphic and organic shapes of the starling murmurations range from meditative to highly dramatic as they perform their incredible ballet of life and death.’
Starling contains exclusively new material, featuring a total of 138 images. The book is distributed worldwide by DAP but also available on the artist’s website.
About Søren
Søren Solkær is a Danish photographer born in 1969. After completing his degree in Nordic Literature, he graduated from FAMU the Photography and Film Academy in Prague in 1995. For the past three decades, Søren has traveled extensively as part of undertaking artistic projects and portraits of artists from the world of music, film, literature and the visual arts.
To see more of his work, visit his website or follow him on Instagram
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