Flights of Spring

We could not resist sharing this remarkable photograph. Søren Solkær (b. 1969) is a Danish photographer. 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, Solkær has traveled extensively as part of undertaking artistic projects and portraits of artists from the world of music, film, literature, and the visual arts. He is 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.

In December, Solkær released his ninth photographic monograph, Starling, which includes the photograph featured here. Starling serves as the sequel to Solkær’s international best-seller Black Sun, which showcased his images of starling murmurations, a phenomenon known in Denmark as “black sun.” 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 expanded his scope to trace the starlings along their migration routes through Europe, from Ireland and England to the Netherlands and Italy. In conjunction with the book’s launch, Søren Solkær: Sort Sol, a solo exhibition at the National Nordic Museum in Seattle, runs through March 10.