With Human Conditions, Kunsthalle Rostock presents a comprehensive retrospective of Olaf Heine – marking 30 years of visual language between music, art and culture. On view are iconic portraits of international artists as well as quiet architectural and landscape images. The Berlin-based photographer is considered one of the defining visual chroniclers of our time.

While three decades of his work are on display in Rostock, Heine continues to work in parallel: shortly before the exhibition opening, he photographed the musician Sting for the artwork of his new album at the Rijksmuseum – surrounded by works by Rembrandt, Johannes Vermeer and Judith Leyster. The fact that artists continue to choose him for such moments is not only due to his visual language, but also to the sense of calm and closeness he creates in front of the camera.

Trained at the Lette Verein in Berlin, Heine began his career in the post-reunification music scene. His move to Los Angeles in the late 1990s marked his... more