Anna Clarén (born 1972) is a Swedish photographer and educator. ''Holding'' (2006) won Best Photobook in the Swedish Photo Book Prize. She has had solo exhibitions at The House of Culture and

Fotografiska Fotografiska (Swedish for “photographic”) is one of the most successful photography museums worldwide, dedicated to inspiring a more conscious world through the power of photography, art, and culture. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, Fotograf ...

in Stockholm, and at the

Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen The Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen is a fine arts museum in the French city of Caen, founded at the start of the 19th century and rebuilt in 1971 within the château de Caen, ducal château. History Opening On September 1, 1801, the Minister o ...

in France. Clarén's work is held in the collection of

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet 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 Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

in Stockholm. She leads the (Nordic Photography School).

Early life and education

Clarén was born in 1972 in Valje, Sweden and grew up in

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

, Scania. She studied

photojournalism Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

from 1994 to 1996 at , Sweden.

Life and work

Clarén worked as a photographer from 1997, including as a press photographer for ''

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

'' and '' Icakuriren'', and making work for magazines and books. She now leads the Nordens Folkhögskola Biskops-Arnö, where she has been a head teacher since 2006. ''Holding'' (2006) is a visual diary created over four months that "portrays the people and places in Clarén's immediate surroundings". It is included in Parr and

Badger Badgers are medium-sized short-legged omnivores in the superfamily Musteloidea. Badgers are a polyphyletic rather than a natural taxonomic grouping, being united by their squat bodies and adaptions for fossorial activity rather than by the ...

's ''The Photobook: A History, Volume III'', where it is described as containing "portraits, interiors, still lifes and landscapes — that together seem to make up a mysterious narrative. The style is diffuse and the images high key, washed-out in colour and frequently blue-tinged, which suggests they have only one foot in reality, and that the narrative is raking through old memories, or is a dream." With ''Close to Home'' (2013) Clarén "documented herself as pregnant, her children, and the people and surroundings close to her home." ''When Everything Changed'' (2018) was made from the point her third child was diagnosed with

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

; "we then follow the family and glimpse the different ways they deal with the situation", from 2013 to 2017.

Publications

*''Holding''. Sweden: Journal, 2006. . *''Puppy Love''. Sweden: Journal, 2009. . *''Close to Home''. Stockholm: Max Ström, 2013. . *''När allt förändrades'' / ''When Everything Changed'' **''När allt förändrades''. Stockholm: Max Ström, 2018. . **''When Everything Changed''. Stockholm: Max Ström, 2018. .

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Holding'',

, Caen, France, 2008/9 *''Holding'', The House of Culture, Stockholm, Sweden, 2008 *''When Everything Changed'',

, Stockholm, Sweden, 2018

Group exhibitions

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

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 is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skepps ...

, Malmö, Sweden, 2014;

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

Christer Strömholm Ture Christer Strömholm (22 July 1918 – 11 January 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 hi ...

, Clarén, Martin Bogren,

JH Engström JH Engström (born 1969) is a Swedish photographer, filmmaker and artist based in Paris. Biography Born in 1969 in Karlstad, Sweden, JH Engström has been developing for two decades a major work that questions the conditions of our existence in ...

, Kenneth Gustavsson, Gerry Johansson,

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 a ...

, Anders Petersen, Inta Ruka, Gunnar Smoliansky,

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.

Awards

*2006: ''Holding'' won Best Photobook in the from the

Collections

Clarén's work is held in the following public collection: *

, Stockholm, Sweden: 12 prints (as of August 2021)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clarén, Anna 21st-century Swedish photographers People from Lund Living people 1972 births 21st-century Swedish women photographers