Anders Petersen (photographer)

Anders Petersen (born 3 May 1944 in Solna, Sweden) is a Swedish photographer, who lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden.

Biography

Petersen is noted for his intimate and personal documentary-style black-and-white photographs. He studied photography under Christer Strömholm in Sweden, 1966-1967. For three years beginning in 1967 he photographed the late-night regulars (prostitutes, transvestites, drunks, lovers and drug addicts) in Café Lehmitz, a bar in Hamburg, Germany. The resulting photobook was first published in 1978 by Schirmer/Mosel in Germany. Café Lehmitz has since become regarded as a seminal book in the history of European photography. One of the photographs from this series was used as the cover art for Tom Waits' album Rain Dogs.

Petersen's first book Gröna Lund (Green Grove), which was published in 1973, is set in the amusement park of Gröna Lund situated on an island.

In 1970 Petersen co-founded SAFTRA, the Stockholm group of photographers, with Kenneth Gustavsson. At the same time, he taught at Christer Strömholm's school. He has been director of the Göteborg School of Photography and Film. He began to photograph for magazines, and continued his personal photo diary work, which continues to this day. He has photographed for extensive periods of time in prisons, mental asylums, and elderly care homes.

Petersen has published more than 20 books, mostly in Sweden, and has had solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and Asia.

Statements by Anders Petersen about his work

"The people at the Café Lehmitz had a presence and a sincerity that I myself lacked. It was okay to be desperate, to be tender, to sit all alone or share the company of others. There was a great warmth and tolerance in this destitute setting."

"To me, it's encounters that matter, pictures are much less important."

"I can't describe reality; at the most, I can try to capture things that seem to be valid, the way I see them."

Photobooks (incomplete)

• Gröna Lund = Green Grove.
  • Stockholm: Fyra Förläggare, 1973. Text by Arnaud Cottebrune.
  • Villejuif, France: Aman Iman, 2009. ISBN 978-2-9533910-2-2. Edition of 300 copies.
  • Villejuif, France: Aman Iman, 2013. ISBN 979-10-92727-02-9.
  • Pyramyd Editions, 2013. French-language version.
• Café Lehmitz.
  • Munich: Schirmer/Mosel, 1978.
  • French edition, 1979.
  • Stockholm: ETC Förlags AB, 1982. ISBN 91-86168 04 5. Text by Roger Andersson.
• Fängelse = Prison. ETC; Stockholm: Norstedts Förlag, 1984. ISBN 978-9118441325. Text by Leif G. W. Persson.
• Rågång till Kärleken = On the line of love. Stockholm: Norstedts Förlag, 1991. ISBN 91-1-913062-7. Text by Göran Odbratt.
• Ingen har sett allt = Nobody has seen it all. 1995.
• Du Mich Auch = Same to you. Stockholm: Journal, 2002. ISBN 91-973629-2-1
• Close/Distance. 2002.
• Roma, a diary. 2005.
• Sète # 08. France: Images En Manœuvres Editions - CétàVOIR, 2008. ISBN 978-2-8499-5118-7
• French kiss Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 2008.
• Dear Diary. 2009.
• From Back Home. Stockholm: Max Ström, 2009. ISBN 978-9171261649. With JH Engström. Edited by Greger Ulf Nilson.
• City Diary. 2009. In three volumes.
• Strange Evidence. Self-published / Createspace, 2012. ISBN 978-1456563738. Contains the images from the exhibition Mark Cohen: Strange Evidence curated by Peter Barbiere at the Philadelphia Museum of Art 2010/2011.
• Soho. London: Mack and The Photographers' Gallery, 2012. ISBN 978-1-907946-22-6.
• Veins. With Jacob Aue Sobol. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2013. ISBN 978-1-907893-45-2.
• Rome, a diary 2012. Collected photographs from three trips to Rome in 1984, 2005 and 2012.
  • Rome, a diary 2012. Rome: Punctum, 2012. Edition of 40 copies.
  • Rome. Paperback. Köln: Walther König; Rome: Punctum, 2014. ISBN 978-3863354619.
  • Rome. Hardback. Köln: Walther König; Rome: Punctum, 2014. Edition of 150 copies with signed print.

Awards

• 1978: grant from the Swedish Authors' Foundation.
• 2003: Photographer of the Year at Rencontres d'Arles.
• 2007: Shortlisted for the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize 2007 along with Philippe Chancel and Fiona Tan.
• 2007: Special Prize of the Jury for his exhibition Exaltation of Humanity by the third International Photofestival in Lianzhou, China.
• 2008 Dr. Erich Salomon Prize by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Photographie, Germany.
• 2009: The Arles Contemporary Book Award with JH Engström for From Back Home.
• 2009: From Back Home was nominated for The Best Photographic Book in Sweden, year 2009.

Sources

• Anders Petersen, Photo Poche #98, published 2004, Actes Sud. ISBN 2-7427-4964-0
• Les Recontres d'Arles Photographie 2006, published 2006, Actes Sud.

External links

• Official website
• Examples of Anders Petersen's early photographs
• 18 minute audio interview from 2006, and examples of recent photographs
• "Anders Petersen - Photographs 1966-1996", zerozero