Lars Pehrson says that he has been a photographer at Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) for thirty-five years and have practically had the world as his working place. As a press photographer, he has been covering news, culture, business, and a lot of sport, too.

“After 2019, I have started working as a freelancer. Over the years, I was involved in several book productions at the publishing house Max Ström. Among them” En dag i Sverige ” (2003), ”Last night in Sweden” (2017), ”Livet i Norden ”(2019), as well as the children´s book ”Ida & elefanterna” which I made with my daughter Ida under year 2005. Some images from the book projects have since been shown in exhibitions at Fotografiska. I am twice awarded in Årets bild (The Picture of the Year) competition.

The project of the photography of artists started as a book project, but for various resons no book was published. Not yet, but anyway, the exhibition is also fun.

During the years at SvD, there were many meetings and reports with various Swedish music artists. Since music has always been one of my great interests, it was quite convenient to ro immerse myself in artist portraits. The biggest challenge for me to find inspiring environments for photography. The interviews often take place in nearby café, which was convenient, but nor so interesting environment for photographing. Therefore, I often booked my own time with the artists and tried to find a more relevant environment, such as their own music studio, the writing space, the rehearsal room, or the tour bus. Some photos are also takes at the artist´s homes.

The pictures are off-stage, they are not concert pictures, but my idea is to portray the artists in their everyday musical environment, but with as instrument or mixer close at hand. It has been inspiring to meet artists over many years and get teo document a small past of their musical life. “

Jill Johnson 2014 Atlantis studio