Exhibition
August Strindberg, photographer
Autoportrait de Strindberg en pélerin, à Berlin en 1892. Collection Bibliothèque nationale de Suède Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
Autoportrait avec ses filles Karin et Greta à Gersau, Suisse. Collection Bibliothèque nationale de Suède. Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
August Srindberg à 21ans en 1870 PhotoMaths HansenStockholm Collection Strinbergmuseet. Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
August Strindberg le 9 avril 1912 dans la rue Drottninggatan à Stockholm Foto Magnus Wester Stockholm, Collection Strinbergmuseet. Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
August Strindberg à l'âge de 63 ans, le jour de son anniversaire, le 22 janvier 1912 Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
Strindberg à Lund, Suède, en janvier 1897, vêtu de son "costume vélocipédique", chez le journaliste Waldemar Bülow Photo: Atelier Lina Jonn Collection Bibliothèque du Nordiska Museet Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
Strindberg à Brevik, sur l'île de Värmdö Photo John Lundgren. Collection Strindbergmuseet Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
"Mademoiselle Julie", première au Folkteatern, Stockholm en 1906 Collection Bibliothèque du Nordiska Museet Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
55: Strindbergs hand, Paris, okänt årtal. Fotograf Julien Leclercq Original Nordiska Museets bibliotek Modern Archival Inkjet Print Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
54: Strindberg, självporträtt med Wunderkamera, Stockholm, ca 1906. Fotograf August Strindberg Original Nordiska Museets bibliotek Modern Archival Inkjet Print Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
56 . Strindberg in his ”velocipedsuit”, Lund, 1897 Fotograf Lina Jonns ateljé Original Nordiska Museets bibliotek Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
Autoportrait de Strindberg en pélerin, à Berlin en 1892. Collection Bibliothèque nationale de Suède Courtesy Institut suédois Paris
For the 100th anniversary of his death, the Swedish Institute of Paris is presenting a photography exhibition "L'image d'August Strindberg" through October 14, 2012.
If August Strindberg (Stockholm 1849-1912) (Stockholm 1849-1912) is above all known in France where he resided, for his plays, he was also a novelist, essayist, poet, painter, photographer and… alchemist.
As photography began spreading throughout the world, August Strindberg quickly understood its importance. Not only as a reflection of his own image, but also for the artistic and alchemical nature of the medium. The illustrious playwright often visited nearby photography studios, including that of professional photographer Otto Wegener in Paris, the amateur Otto Johansson’s studio on the island of Furusund in the northern archipelago of Stockholm.
As Björn Meidal, Professor at the Uppsala University and Strindberg specialist commented, “he was obsessed by the observation and the analysis of his own image. He attacked the lack of depth in professional photographers’ work and often said that “in this field, a beautiful picture is essential! The soul, expression, is secondary!”
He went as far as to send post cards of his self-portraits to his friends.
One century after his death, what became of these pictures?
To answer this question, the exhibition produced by Fotografiska (1), from the book "The worlds of Strindberg" (2), focuses on six themes: vanity, the family picture, the lover and the enemy, the scientific and the mystic, the thespian and playwright.
50 prints demonstrate his staging, portraits in both familial and professional settings. As such these albums, created in Gersau Switzerland, could have been used to contradict accusations of misogyny.
Yet August Strindberg also associated photography with science and magic. He used photography when he documented, in 1880, the lives of peasants or to illustrate his introspective research. “The camera and the eye provoke an optical illusion… the question to answer is how the emancipated world is rendered through a false vision?” To verify this, he took "Célestographies" by exposing plates to the starry sky. Or "Cristallogrammes" by pouring different substances on photosensible plates. He was also interested in pictures of clouds, thinking that he had seen the same clouds in Switzerland or in Austria.. “Could they have been “mirages”, or “phenomenons?”
(1) Recent prints are from the collections of the Strindbergmuseet, the Nordiska museet and the Swedish national library. www.maxstrom.se
(2) "The Worlds of Strindberg", a collaboration between Björn Meidal and photographer Bengt Wanselius (éd. Max Ström)
Bernard Perrine
Bernard.Perrine1@orange.fr
Exhibition
"L'image d'August Strindberg"
Until October 14 2012
Institut suédois
11 rue Payenne
F-75003 Paris
01 44 78 80 20
Mardi-dimanche 12-18h
Conversation "Strindberg et la photographie."
May 22th, 2012 - 7.03pm
Free entrance
Links
http://www.institutsuedois.fr
http://www.fotografiska.eu
http://www.strindberg2012.se
Contributors
Bernard Perrine