About Swedish photographer, Christer STRÖMHOLM (1918-2002)
Christer STRÖMHOLM began studying at the art school of the painter Woldemar Winkler in 1937. After falling out with Winkler, he moved to Paris and from there traveled to Italy and Spain, which was shaken by the civil war. In the fall of 1938, he returned to Sweden to continue studying painting. From 1939 to 1940, he took part in the Soviet-Finnish Winter War on the Soviet side. From 1940 to 1945, he fought in a group of Swedish resistance fighters in Norway against the German occupying forces. After the war, he developed photography as his form of artistic expression. From 1946 to 1956, he studied at the Académie des Beaux Arts in Paris and spent time in Italy. He produced photo reportages and portraits of famous people from the worlds of art and culture for a Brazilian magazine. From 1949 to 1954, he was a member of the 'fotoform' group led by Otto STEINERT, with whom he took part in exhibitions under the name Christer Christian. The exhibition 'Subjective Photography' in Saarbrücken in 1951 became particularly well known. He also taught photographic design at an adult education center, from which he developed the 'Fotoskolan' school together with Tor-Ivan ODULF.1956-1964 he created his photo series of transsexuals at the Place Blanche in Paris.
At that time he consolidated his photographic principles: 'Available light' - 'Exposure moment' - 'Personal responsibility'. Christer STRÖMHOLM died in Stockholm on January 11, 2002 after a long illness. His last book, 'I befintligt ljus - ett fotografisk testamente' (In available light - A photographic testament) remained unfinished.
Photo books by and with works by Christer STRÖMHOLM
- 'Till minnet av mig själv' (1965); 'Poste Restante' (1967, 2016); 'Christer Strömholm' (1978); 'Vännerna från Place Blance' (1983); 'Picture Show No. 1' (1986); 'Christer Strömholm' (1986); 'Fotografias 1930-1990' (1990); 'Konstten att vara där' (1991); 'Indicier / Indications' (1996, together with works by Anders PETERSEN and Kenneth GUSTAVSSON); '101 Kloka Ord' (1997); 'L'Ensoleillement de Solitde' (1998); 'Burkkänslan. Om surrealism' (1999); 'Christer Strömholm. La Caixa' (2001); 'Fotoskolan' (2003); '102 Kloka Ord' (2005); 'On Verra Bien' (2002); 'Arbus, Model, Strömholm' (2005, together with works by Diane ARBUS and Lisette MODEL); In Memory of Himself' (2006); 'In the Face of History. European Photographers in the Twentieth Century' (2006, together with works by Kate BUSH, Eugene ATGET, Gilberte BRASSAI, Roman VISHNIAC, Josef SUDEK, Sune JONSSON, Robert DOISNEAU, Anders PETERSEN and Boris MIKHAILOV); 'Photo Poche' (2006); 'Enfant Terribles' (2007); 'Les Amies de Place Blanche' (2011, 2013); 'Post Scriptum' (2012); 'Resa i svartvitt' (2013, with Lasse Söderberg); 'Les nuits de Place Blanche' (2015); 'Giacometti à la fenêtre' (2019); 'Hasselblad Award. Celebrating Photography' (2020); 'Porträtt i Paris' (2022); 'Christer Strömholm' (2024);
Awards
1993: Appointment as Professor of Photography by the Swedish Ministry of Culture;
1998: Hasselblad Foundation Award 1997;