Martin Bogren (born 1967) is a Swedish documentary photographer, living in Malmö. He has made "understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white." Bogren has had solo exhibitions of ''Lowlands'' and ''Italia'' at

Fotografiska Fotografiska is a centre for contemporary photography in the Södermalm district of Stockholm, Sweden that was founded by brothers Jan and Per Broman and opened on 21 May 2010. In March 2021, it merged with NeueHouse and is operated by Yoram Roth ...

in Stockholm, Sweden, and of ''Ocean'' at

Blue Sky Gallery Blue Sky Gallery, also known as The Oregon Center for the Photographic Arts, is a non-profit exhibition space for contemporary photography in Portland, Oregon. Blue Sky Gallery is dedicated to public education, began by showing local artists and ...

in Portland, Oregon. ''Lowlands'' has also been shown in group exhibitions at

Moderna Museet Malmö Moderna Museet Malmö is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Malmö, Sweden. It is a part of the state-owned Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and co ...

and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet ("the Museum of Modern Art"), Stockholm, Sweden, is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened a new branch in Malmö in t ...

, Stockholm. His work is held in the collections of Fotografiska and of

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum in Portland, Oregon, United States, was founded in 1892, making it one of the oldest art museums on the West Coast and seventh oldest in the US. Upon completion of the most recent renovations, the Portland Art Museum becam ...

Life and work

Bogren grew up in Skurup,

Skåne County Skåne County ( sv, Skåne län, link=no ), sometimes referred to as Scania County in English, is the most southern county, or , of Sweden, basically corresponding to the traditional province Scania. It borders the counties of Halland, Kronobe ...

(also known as Scania County), Sweden. In the early 1990s he photographed bands and artists. He toured for several years with the Swedish pop group the Cardigans, making a "diaristic book", ''The Cardigans: Been it'' (1997). He has since established his signature style, making—in the words of Sean O'Hagan in '' The Guardian''—"understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white." In ''Ocean'' (2008) "his subjects were a group of men from Rajasthan, who had travelled the 1,000-odd miles from their inland home by minibus to bathe in the sea for the first time." For ''Lowlands'' (2011), Bogren revisited his childhood home of Skurup over 4 years, "to portray the inhabitants, environments and atmosphere of the village", "a rural Swedish idyll peopled with strange and beautiful characters." For ''Tractor Boys'' (2013) "he immersed himself in the enclosed world of a group of adolescent boys from rural Sweden who customise and race old cars for fun." ''Italia'' (2016), made in Naples, Palermo, Bologna and Turin, is "Bogren's take on street photography". ''August Song'' (2020) was made during summers between 2013 and 2018, at music venues hidden in woods on the outskirts of villages in rural parts of Sweden. ''Passenger'' (2021) was made over several stays in Calcutta, India and for the first time mixes colour photographs with his usual black and white. Bogren lives in Malmö, Sweden.

Publications

Books of work by Bogren

*''The Cardigans: Been it''. Tiden, 1997. . Photographs by Bogren, text by and . *''Ocean.'' Finn Larsen, 2008. . *''Lowlands''. Max Strom, 2011. . *''Tractor Boys''. Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2013. . With an essay by Christian Caujolle.Caujolle's essay is availabl
here
at the ''1000 Words'' website *''Italia''. Max Ström, 2016. . Includes a short prose pamphlet by Bogren. *''August Song''. Bentivoglio, Italy: L'Artiere, 2020. . Edition of 1000 copies. *''Passenger''. Lamaindonne, 2021. .

Artist books by Bogren

*''Notes.'' Stockholm: Stockholms Fotoantikvariat, 2008. . *''Embraces.'' Self-published, 2014. Edition of 150 copies. *''Hollow''. Self-published, 2018. Edition of 15 copies.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Ocean'',

, Portland, Oregon, 2009 *''Martin Bogren: Lowlands'',

, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011 *''Martin Bogren: Italia'', Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden, 2016/17

Group exhibitions

*''A Way of Life: Swedish Photography from Christer Strömholm until Today'',

, Malmö, Sweden, 2014;

, Stockholm, Sweden, 2014/15. With work by

Christer Strömholm Christer Strömholm (July 22, 1918 – January 11, 2002), also known by the pseudonym Christer Christian, was a Swedish photographer and educator. He is known for his intimate black and white street photography portrait series, particularly his p ...

, Bogren, Anna Clarén, JH Engström, Kenneth Gustavsson,

Gerry Johansson Gerry Johansson (born 1945) is a Swedish photographer who lives in Höganäs in southern Sweden. He makes "straight and pragmatic" photographs with "an objective view of a geographic location." His books include ''America,'' ''Sweden,'' ''Germany, ...

Tuija Lindström Tuija Lydia Elisabeth Lindström (5 May 1950 – 26 December 2017) was a Finnish-Swedish photographer, artist and professor of photography at School of Photography and Film, University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1992–2001. She lived and ...

, Anders Petersen,

Inta Ruka Inta Ruka (born 1958) is a Latvian photographer. Life and work Ruka was born in Riga. She married Egons Spuris, a Latvian photographer. Towards the end of the 1970s, she started her career in photography. In 2006, she worked on another photogra ...

Gunnar Smoliansky Gunnar Smoliansky (11 July 1933 – 12 December 2019) was a Swedish photographer. Biography In 1975, Smoliansky and others founded the Bildhuset Agency. In 1980, he won the ''Stora Fotographpriset'' from ''Photo A photograph (also known as ...

Lars Tunbjörk Lars Tunbjörk (15 February 1956 – 8 April 2015) was a Swedish photographer known for his "deadpan portraits of office spaces and suburban lifestyles". Background Tunbjörk was born in the Swedish town of Borås, a place which was a big influe ...

, and others.

Collections

Bogren's work is held in the following collections: *

, Stockholm, Sweden *

, Portland, Oregon

Notes

References

External links

*
Bogren's profile at Agence Vu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogren, Martin Documentary photographers 21st-century Swedish photographers People from Skurup Municipality Living people 1967 births