Martin Bogren

biography

Suedish photographer, lives in Malmö.

In the 1990s, Martin Bogren developed a personal approach of documentary photography by following swedish musicians and artists on stage, tour, and studio. His first book “The Cardigans – Been It », published at the top of the group’s success in 1996 , reveals his work and launches his career. Martin Bogren however aims at going beyond assignments and music field : he focuses on more personal photographic work.

Travels encounters, (Notes, 2008, Italia, 2016), joy of first discoveries (Ocean, 2008), or teenage spleen (Lowlands, 2011, Tractors boys, 2013, Embraces, 2014) : his works reveal a vivid desire to avoid boredom and to reach an elsewhere. He gets in contact with his subjects as a silent witness, as a subtle and caring observer. Through grainy black-and-white and highly grey nuanced photographs, he succeeds in combining a documentary approach with a sensitive affirmation of his subjective vision.

« I think photography is about searching. But when we have found what we were looking for, we will automatically stop looking for it, right? I don’t know what I’m looking for. Probably a recognition of myself in others, and others in myself – a community with others and a togetherness. This mirroring, this reflection, I believe is an ongoing process in our lives – with or without the camera in our hands. I believe this search is the main reason for us being here and photography can be a wonderful thing for it. »

In addition to numerous grants and prizes in Sweden, his work is recognized internationally and part of several prestigious collections – including the Forografiska Museet (Stockholm), the Oregon Art Museum (Portland) and the Bibliothèque nationale de France. He is the author of several highly acclaimed books, including Tractor Boys, Italia and August Song.

Series

Passenger, 2021

Série | Associating colour with black and white esthetic, the "Passenger" corpus extends the initiation journey that is dear to Martin Bogren's photographic writing.

Martin Bogren séries

August Song, 2019

Martin Bogren photographed balls in the Swedish countryside for several summers and gives us an intimate and vertiginous account that condenses in a way the sensitive affirmation of his subjective visions.

Martin Bogren séries

Italia, 2017

Martin Bogren has travelled through Italian cities without any real goal. It was a question for him of getting lost, of drawing a path without any predefined intention.

Martin Bogren séries

Hollow, 2015

The city seems in the grip of an insurmountable winter. Unless it is him who holds it in thrall; he drifts alone, a stranger to himself. Trapped in the absurdity of being in the world when any horizon looks like a dead end.

Martin Bogren séries

Tractor Boys, 2012

A silent witness – it is truly remarkable that these images of moments of fury should be silent to this extent – he observes. In compositions as flexible as they are precise, as natural and instinctive as they are understated, he endeavours to report what he sees and what he perceives.

Home-Réalisations Martin Bogren séries