It’s been 12 years since one of the greatest within Swedish photography, Christer Strömholm, passed away. This spring Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg and Moderna Museet in Malmö take a comprehensive approach to his lifework both as an artist and a teacher.
A sun-worshiping, drowsy dog sitting and absorbing the light at the entrance of his master’s alcohol store. An androgynous face behind a black, embroidered and transparent veil. Every detail depicted with a strong presence.
In the light-attenuated, darkroom-like exhibition rooms at Dunkers, hangs almost 200 photographs by Christer Strömholm, from the photography master’s most active period from the 1950s and on. The exhibition, Post Scriptum, is suggestive but at the same time carefully arranged by his son Joakim.
It was during his regular trips to Paris, Spain and other places in Europe and the world when Strömholm made contact with those motif circles that became his hallmark. It was in the city streets and the back yards he succeeded to develop his perfect pitch for the most striking and the most vulnerable. The prostitutes, the incarcerated animals, and the blinded children.
Through his highly developed sense for the intimate, Strömholm succeeded in finding the most unexpected angles – as for instance among his friends, the transsexuals at Place Blance in Paris, who are so richly represented at Dunkers’ ambitiously designed exhibition. It is difficult not to be impressed, even for someone who has seen the photographs before but in other contexts.
Appropriately, Moderna Museet in Malmö also exhibits Strömholm at the same time. Their exhibition deepens his importance as a teacher and an inspirer, with several photographs from a lot of other renowned Swedish photographers. In contrast, the exhibition at Dunkers Kulturhus exclusively devote their exhibition to Strömholms’ own photographs.
Post Scriptum doesn’t lack any real weaknesses, there is not a single weak photograph. The tactful visitor should above all especially look at Strömholms’ delicate children portraits – here the intimate moments are breathtaking.
Text: Bengt Petterson
Translation: Lars Jansson
