Erwin Olaf, on beauty and fall

Dutch photographer Erwin Olaf is on the threshold of an important year: his most recent photographic series Hope, Grief and Rain appear to have given him an international breakthrough. His work has been criticised as being produced merely for its shock value, thus eliminating it as art. But now that important art dealers in the U.S. and Japan are eager to invest in his recent work, it seems as if his years of hard work will finally lead to serious recognition. Yet this is occurring, of all times, in a period of his life in which Erwin Olaf is contending with emphysema, a debilitating disease that obliges him to deal cautiously with his energy reserves. Whether his body can keep up with his work pace is uncertain. The documentary provides a portrait of the international art trade as seen through the eyes of - according to Dutch art magazine Kunstbeeld - 'the most highly visible Dutch artist working abroad.' How can you get your work to be displayed at the right museum? Who are your influences in your choice of subject matter? And how does it affect your work to know that you only have a very limited time in which to create it?