Gerry Johansson
‘The question What is beauty? is one that I think has an infinite number of answers. I read Robert Adams’ Beauty in photography. An essay in defense of traditional values when it was published in the early eighties. That changed my mind from being a nihilist critic to optimistic recorder of life.
Photography I think is very much the art of the subconscious. You have the possibility to react to your feelings instantly and it is very difficult to pinpoint what draws you to certain objects or places.’
born 1945 in Örebro, Sweden. Lives and works in Höganäs, Sweden.
Gerry Johansson is one of Sweden’s most renowned photographers. Working mostly in black and white, and favouring the square format, Johansson is attracted to the neglected details of urban space. He is known for portraying quiet small towns around the world in the USA, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Germany and Spain. His main goal is to demonstrate the effect people have on their surroundings and how cities change over time.
Johansson’s interest in photography began to develop as a teenager. After a stay in New York at the beginning of the 1960s, he first studied graphic design at the School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden. After graduating in 1969, he worked as a graphic designer for 15 years before dedicating himself completely to photography in the mid-1980s.
Johansson’s work is held in collections including: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, and Museet for Fotokonst, Brandt, Denmark.
Since 1985, Gerry Johansson has produced a large number of books including the recently published ‘American Winter’ (2018) and ‘Spanish Summer’ (2022), both MACK. In Sweden, he has been awarded the Region Skånes kulturpris (2012) and the Lars Tunbjörk Prize (2019).
Selected Exhibitions:
Spazio Labo, Bologna, Italy (solo, 2020); ICO Foundation, Madrid, Spain (group, 2019); Kunsthalle Rostock, Germany (solo, 2018); Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Colombia (group, 2013); Hasselblad Center, Göteborg, Sweden (solo, 2007); Moderna Museet, Sweden (solo, 1982 and 2003).
Photography I think is very much the art of the subconscious. You have the possibility to react to your feelings instantly and it is very difficult to pinpoint what draws you to certain objects or places.’
born 1945 in Örebro, Sweden. Lives and works in Höganäs, Sweden.
Gerry Johansson is one of Sweden’s most renowned photographers. Working mostly in black and white, and favouring the square format, Johansson is attracted to the neglected details of urban space. He is known for portraying quiet small towns around the world in the USA, Sweden, Italy, Japan, Germany and Spain. His main goal is to demonstrate the effect people have on their surroundings and how cities change over time.
Johansson’s interest in photography began to develop as a teenager. After a stay in New York at the beginning of the 1960s, he first studied graphic design at the School of Design and Crafts in Gothenburg, Sweden. After graduating in 1969, he worked as a graphic designer for 15 years before dedicating himself completely to photography in the mid-1980s.
Johansson’s work is held in collections including: Moderna Museet, Stockholm, and Museet for Fotokonst, Brandt, Denmark.
Since 1985, Gerry Johansson has produced a large number of books including the recently published ‘American Winter’ (2018) and ‘Spanish Summer’ (2022), both MACK. In Sweden, he has been awarded the Region Skånes kulturpris (2012) and the Lars Tunbjörk Prize (2019).
Selected Exhibitions:
Spazio Labo, Bologna, Italy (solo, 2020); ICO Foundation, Madrid, Spain (group, 2019); Kunsthalle Rostock, Germany (solo, 2018); Museum of Modern Art, Bogota, Colombia (group, 2013); Hasselblad Center, Göteborg, Sweden (solo, 2007); Moderna Museet, Sweden (solo, 1982 and 2003).