Pushing the Limits Olofssonís Photography Explores Self, Family Relationships by Carolyn Chapman Standing naked in front of Polandís frigid Baltic Sea in January, AnneË Olofssonís pale blue eyes stare piercingly, yet blankly, at the camera while her face turns from bright red, to blue, to pale white. As snowflakes catch her long, blond hair, her expression changes from one of discomfort to one of extreme physical pain and suffering. She seems to fight off tears and then looks as if she is internally forcing herself to toughen up and continue. The camera rolls for 15 minutes, showing her only from the shoulders up, until she finally cannot stand the pain of the extreme cold anymore and a single tear runs down her cheek. ìA photographer was just filming me until I couldnít take it anymore,î said Olofsson as she spoke with her curator, Elizabeth Fisher, at her exhibit opening at the Embassy of Sweden. ìI tried to keep on and see how far I could go.î Although Olofsson tried to keep goingófighting off the cold with nothing between her and the subzero Polish winter except the lens of the cameraówe stare into her eyes and feel her vulnerability in front of the camera, almost wishing that she would throw a blan ket over herself and run and sit in front of the nearest fireplace. But Olofsson wouldnít do that. Her work is about pushing the limits of what she knows about herself to discover something deeper, giving herself completely to the camera and delving deeply (sometimes almost uncomfortably) into areas such as intimate family relationships to get to know herself and her family members on a different level. Fisher calls this family pieceótitled ìColdî and currently on display at the Fusebox Galleryóone of Olofssonís most important works. ìItís almost masochistic,î she said. ìShe wants to see how far she can go. Sheís trying to say: ëThis is me. What is there to me?íî What immediately strikes you about Olofssonís work, said Fisher, is that it is all very dark. It always features her in a type of dark and complex image. Itís not straightforwardly expressing anything, and it often uses her family members. At first sight, Olofssonís photographs and video workówhich are now on display at both the Embassy of Sweden and Fuseboxóare highly composed. Olofsson is usually dressed in a neutral color or black, and every detail has been laid out. But knowing the dynamics between Olofsson and the others in her photographs brings a completely different level of understanding to her work. She uses her family in most of her work, often not even telling them what they will be doing until itís time to shoot. For example, in ìSkinned,î a series of self-portraits that is partially on display at the Embassy of Sweden, her fatherís hands explore her body beneath a tight, nude-colored sweater. Fisher points out that Olofsson consistently returns to the idea of crossing the line between the father-daughter relationship. ìI find it very interesting working with my family because they are always there, and you have to connect with them, so why not work with them,î said Olofsson. ìI now have a different relationship with them. It gives the whole family a new view of things, and we learn a lot from each other. Iím interested in reaching that kind of limit when it almost becomes something else,î she added. Pushing the limit between what is known and what is acceptable is what makes Olofssonís work so intriguing, although she said, ìMy parents arenít very pleased with it all of the time.î ìUndertow,î a joint exhibition by AnneË Olofsson and Shizuka Yokomizo, runs through Dec. 15 at Fusebox Gallery, 1412 14th St., NW. For more information, please call (202) 299-9220 or visit www.fuseboxdc.com. The AnneË Olofsson exhibit runs through Dec. 13 at the Embassy of Sweden, 1501 M St., NW. For more information, please call (202) 467-2640 or visit www.swedish-embassy.org. Carolyn Chapman is a freelance writer in Washington D.C.