Christer Strömholm

“We cannot photograph the experience of others”, the Swede Christer Strömholm (1918-2002) once said. The phrase evokes his peculiar conception of photography, expressed in a body of work that reflects both his hectic biography and frenetic travelling and his unwavering complicity in the face of human suffering and the complexity of existence in general. This compassionate and discreetly humorous view of life gave rise to an absolutely singular and unmistakably aesthetic oeuvre.

Although his relevant contribution to the renewal of photographic language came late (in 1968, when his exhibition “Nine Seconds of My Life” was presented at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm), he is considered an indisputable reference in contemporary photography for the original subjectivity he introduces into the existential documentary tradition.

This wide-ranging retrospective covers all aspects of the artist’s output, from his involvement with the German Fotoform group in the early 1950s to his iconic portraits of his friends, the travesties of Place Blanche in Paris, his many travels, his street photography and his portraits of artists.

Curator: Estelle af Malmborg.