Christer
Strömholm

Christer Strömholm

biography

In 1937, at the age of 19, he was born in Stockholm (Sweden) in 1918, Christer Strömholm left Sweden for Dresden where he attended the art school of Professor Waldemar Winkler. In conflict with the teacher about Paul Klee and the banned artists of the Bauhaus, he quickly left for Paris, then Arles, to meet his master, the Swedish artist, Dick Beer. In the autumn of 1938, he returned to Sweden and began painting with Otte Sköld and Isaac Grünwald. In 1946, after having served from 1939 to 1945 under the Norwegian flag in a volunteer corps and then in the resistance, he returned to Paris and enrolled in the School of Fine Arts.

There, he really discovered photography and made, on commission, portraits of celebrities such as Man Ray, Marcel Duchamp or Le Corbusier, but also personal portraits, which today are undeniable icons of these artists who marked the century. From 1946 to 1954, he lived and worked in Paris, while pursuing his art studies in Paris, but also Faenza and Florence.

In 1950 (until 1953), he joined the Fotoform group for the subjective German photography of the German Otto Steinert. In 1956, he moved to Paris where he remained until 1962. During these 6 years, he produced his great work on transsexuals in La Place Blanche. In 1962/63, he travelled to Japan, India, the United States and Africa. From 1962 to 1974, he directed the School of Photography at Stockholm University and trained more than 1200 students, including the elite of contemporary Scandinavian photography.

Since then, Christer Strömholm’s photographs have been exhibited and published in Sweden, but also in Spain, Portugal, Germany, Mexico and Argentina

Series

Polaroids, 1977

About twenty Polaroids created by Strömholm in 1976 present the assemblies of images and objects and constitute so many visual plays on words that reveal the profound influence of surrealism on Strömholm.

Paris, 1965

"The pictures of a lost Paris does not call up our nostalgia but revive our curiosity and support our interest as a document..."

Japon, 1963

Christer Strömholm travelled to Japan to photograph, in a sober and sparse expression, the faces of the victims of the Hiroshima disaster.

America, 1963

On her journey around the world, Christer Strömholm travelled to some of the major cities in the United States between 1962 and 1963.

Children, 1963

Christer Strömholm's images of children, so far removed from the charm and anecdote that made the success of "French romanticism" so successful, are both generous and respectful and of infinite sadness.

Portraits of Artists, 1962

Strömholm is very interested in art history and is very close to contemporary artists. He makes numerous portraits and discovers that he possesses a particular talent « to break through the shell of the artists ».

Spain, 1959

Series | At the end of the 1650s, Christer Strömholm made many trips to Spain, including Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Madrid, where he was a guide for the first major tourist waves.

Les amies de la Place Blanche , 1954

Series | This is a book about insecurity. A portayal of those living a different life in the big city of Paris, of people who endured the roughness of the streets.

Fotoform, 1952

Series | Between 1950 and 1953, Strömholm joined up the Fotoform group led by Otto Steinert. He had the assumed mane of Christer Christian and was took part in the Subjective Fotografie collective exhibition”.

Polaroids, 1977

About twenty Polaroids created by Strömholm in 1976 present the assemblies of images and objects and constitute so many visual plays on words that reveal the profound influence of surrealism on Strömholm.

Paris, 1965

"The pictures of a lost Paris does not call up our nostalgia but revive our curiosity and support our interest as a document..."

Japon, 1963

Christer Strömholm travelled to Japan to photograph, in a sober and sparse expression, the faces of the victims of the Hiroshima disaster.

America, 1963

On her journey around the world, Christer Strömholm travelled to some of the major cities in the United States between 1962 and 1963.

Children, 1963

Christer Strömholm's images of children, so far removed from the charm and anecdote that made the success of "French romanticism" so successful, are both generous and respectful and of infinite sadness.

Portraits of Artists, 1962

Strömholm is very interested in art history and is very close to contemporary artists. He makes numerous portraits and discovers that he possesses a particular talent « to break through the shell of the artists ».

Spain, 1959

Series | At the end of the 1650s, Christer Strömholm made many trips to Spain, including Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Madrid, where he was a guide for the first major tourist waves.

Les amies de la Place Blanche , 1954

Series | This is a book about insecurity. A portayal of those living a different life in the big city of Paris, of people who endured the roughness of the streets.

Fotoform, 1952

Series | Between 1950 and 1953, Strömholm joined up the Fotoform group led by Otto Steinert. He had the assumed mane of Christer Christian and was took part in the Subjective Fotografie collective exhibition”.

Polaroids, 1977

About twenty Polaroids created by Strömholm in 1976 present the assemblies of images and objects and constitute so many visual plays on words that reveal the profound influence of surrealism on Strömholm.

Paris, 1965

"The pictures of a lost Paris does not call up our nostalgia but revive our curiosity and support our interest as a document..."

Japon, 1963

Christer Strömholm travelled to Japan to photograph, in a sober and sparse expression, the faces of the victims of the Hiroshima disaster.

America, 1963

On her journey around the world, Christer Strömholm travelled to some of the major cities in the United States between 1962 and 1963.

Children, 1963

Christer Strömholm's images of children, so far removed from the charm and anecdote that made the success of "French romanticism" so successful, are both generous and respectful and of infinite sadness.

Portraits of Artists, 1962

Strömholm is very interested in art history and is very close to contemporary artists. He makes numerous portraits and discovers that he possesses a particular talent « to break through the shell of the artists ».

Spain, 1959

Series | At the end of the 1650s, Christer Strömholm made many trips to Spain, including Palma de Mallorca, Barcelona and Madrid, where he was a guide for the first major tourist waves.

Les amies de la Place Blanche , 1954

Series | This is a book about insecurity. A portayal of those living a different life in the big city of Paris, of people who endured the roughness of the streets.

Fotoform, 1952

Series | Between 1950 and 1953, Strömholm joined up the Fotoform group led by Otto Steinert. He had the assumed mane of Christer Christian and was took part in the Subjective Fotografie collective exhibition”.

Interviews

Les Amies de la Place Blanche
French Culture in the US
—
2012

Swedish photographer Christer Strömholm wrote in the 1983 book of the series: « These are images of people whose lives I shared and whom I think I understood. These are images of women—biologically born as men—that we call ‘transsexuals,’ » His photographs are  » A portrayal of those living a different life in the big city of Paris, of people who endured the roughness of the streets. »

The last interview by Gunilla Knape
Hasselblad Center
—
2000

This is the last interview with Christer Strömholm, conducted by the Director of the Hasselblad Center Museum of Photography, following the presentation of the Hasselblad Award in 1997.

Read

Exhibitions

Les Amies de Place Blanche
—
Centre Pompidou, Paris
—
From September 6, 2023 to March 25, 2024

More information

books

Post Scriptum

Max Ström - 2012

Les amies de la place blanche

Aman Iman - 2011

Poste Restante

Steidl - 2006

Chirster Strömholm

Actes Sud - 2006

ON VERRA BIEN

Bildverksamheten Strömholm & Fäbrgfabriken - 2002

Nueve segundos de mi vida

Concalcuta - 2000

Imprints

Hasselblad Center - 1998

Post Scriptum

Max Ström - 2012

Les amies de la place blanche

Aman Iman - 2011

Poste Restante

Steidl - 2006

Chirster Strömholm

Actes Sud - 2006

ON VERRA BIEN

Bildverksamheten Strömholm & Fäbrgfabriken - 2002

Nueve segundos de mi vida

Concalcuta - 2000

Imprints

Hasselblad Center - 1998

Post Scriptum

Max Ström - 2012

Les amies de la place blanche

Aman Iman - 2011

Poste Restante

Steidl - 2006

Chirster Strömholm

Actes Sud - 2006

ON VERRA BIEN

Bildverksamheten Strömholm & Fäbrgfabriken - 2002

Nueve segundos de mi vida

Concalcuta - 2000

Imprints

Hasselblad Center - 1998