The Danish star photographer Søren Solkær has beautified the city of Copenhagen with his first ever mural depicting the natural phenomenon of starling murmurations, known in Danish as “black sun”. The giant artwork is a declaration of love to the city Søren has lived in since the mid-nineties, Copenhagen. It is also a part of a bigger celebration that marks the 100 year anniversary for Southern Jutland’s reunion with Denmark after being under German rule from 1864-1920. A celebration organized by the cultural festival, Golden Days.
The stunning motif is chosen from Søren’s latest project, BLACK SUN (2020), and captures one of the world’s most spectacular phenomena; the large murmurations of starlings that Søren has been documenting for several years all over Europe, starting out in the landscape of his childhood.
“I have spent five years photographing starlings when they gather in the spring and fall and put on an incredible show of collaboration that looks like a veritable ballet of life or death. This particular photo was taken in the Tønder marshland and the mural is located on Tønder Street in Copenhagen. My vision is to present the citizens of Copenhagen to a magical moment from my childhood’s marshland,” Søren says.
The vision of the mural came to life by the graffiti legend Henrik Soten, who is known internationally for his street art and vibrant murals. As a matter of fact, this is not the first time Søren ventures into the scene of street art. Back in 2012 he started on a three-year project, called SURFACE, photographing 160 of the world’s leading street artists and graffiti writers. A project that took him all over the world and resulted in a series of cinematic, staged portraits, presented in a book and numerous international exhibitions.
Søren Solkær holds a degree in photography from FAMU in Prague and through the last 25 years he has been portraying the world’s biggest celebrities. Søren has exhibited in galleries and museums across the world, and moreover his broad range of fine art photography is represented in both private and public collections. Besides his new starling murmuration series, Søren is also recognized for his iconic portraits of some of the biggest names in the world of the arts and culture such as Amy Winehouse, Paul McCartney, Björk, Pharrell Williams, David Lynch and Patti Smith.
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