Harry Olson

Harry Olson, July 23, 1969, is an American photographer, known for his surrealist photographic works. He has been one of the leading figures of photomanipulation in the United States in the 1990s.

Olson was born in the city of Chicago.  After leaving school he entered the University of Fine Arts in New York. From 1987 to 1989 he did a master’s degree in photomontage. In 1992 he got his degree in 1992 in the specialty of professional graphic designer. Until 1998, he worked in various arts such as painting, sculpture and photography. At the same time, he studied plastic anatomy, esoteric psychology, as well as professional astrology, which influenced his later works. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Chicago Designers Union and in 2002 he became a member of the American Photographers Union.
His best known works are the series “Ghosts” (see below) in which through image manipulation he shows veiled and ghostly images in a devastated environment of his native Chicago. Other relevant works by this artist are “Shadows of the soul” and “Esoteric Winds”.
He currently combines his teaching work at the University of Chicago with exhibitions shared with contemporary artists such as Irina Helmut, Roger Dubois or Yuri Wang.