Fotografiska

We docked today exactly where our ship docked the last time we were here. It is next door to a large brick building whose east end announces in large letters that it is the home of J. Lindeberg Co. The west half of the building houses the Stockholm Photography Museum, or “Foto Muzeet,” as it is called in the wonderfully phonetic Swedish language.

It had opened just before we arrived for our last visit. There had been some controversy surrounding its start. This site had originally been chosen for the new ABBA Museum, but at the last minute, the promoters of the museum for the quartet chose to put it in a building over near the amusement park. With little preparation the photography museum moved in here. Today I was glad to see that the museum is still open and is apparently doing very well.

We saw four exhibits today. The first displayed the work of Andy Warhol. One show I found especially interesting was an exhibit of the work of Terry O’Neal. In one little area were two large, overstuffed chairs where we sat and listened to an interview of the drummer turned photographer. He revealed some poignant details about his short marriage to actress Faye Dunnaway. Being married to a superstar is not all it’s cracked up to be. There were other interesting exhibits about digital arts and another on the rise of African photography.

I was encouraged by the display of the contact sheets showing the negatives of some of the award winning images. To get one shot of Audrey Hepburn swinging a cricket bat, the photographer had to shoot over a hundred frames. For most of the notable images, several hundred shots were required. The pros had many shots of famous people just doing ordinary things. I was inspired, so I took my new iPhone 13 proMax outside and just shot some images on the street. I doubt that any will win awards, but I’ll bet if the subjects were celebrities, they might. Anyhow, I had fun. And that’s what this trip is all about.Read more