For the past two decades, Dutch photographer Rineke Dijkstra has aimed her lens at absorbing human subjects, from awkward adolescents discovered on beaches to figures disarmed by extreme exhaustion—baby-faced matadors following a bullfight, for instance, or young mothers right after childbirth. Some 70 of these portraits, in addition to five video works, are now assembled in a major midcareer retrospective at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Especially striking are serial images taken of a single person, such as Olivier, above, whom Dijkstra shot as an enlistee in the French Foreign Legion and later as a hardened soldier. February 18–May 28; sfmoma.org
Culture + Lifestyle
Rineke Dijkstra’s Absorbing Portraits
The Dutch photographer’s captivating work goes on display at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art