Anders Petersen (photographer)

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Anders Petersen, was born 3 May 1944 in Solna, Sweden, and lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden. He also have a little brother called Ulf Petersen and a little sister called Eva Petersen. He also has a son called Jens Petersen. He is a world renowned photographer, noted for his intimate and personal documentary-style black-and-white photographs. He studied photography under Christer Stromholm in Sweden, 1966-1967. In 1967, he started to photograph the late-night regulars (prostitutes, transvestites, drunks, lovers, drug addicts) in a bar in Hamburg, Germany, named Café Lehmitz, and continued that project for three years. His photobook of the same name was published eight years later, in 1978, by Schirmer/Mosel in Germany, and then appeared in France (1979) and Sweden (1982). Café Lehmitz has since become regarded as a seminal book in the history of European photography.

In 1970, he co-founded SAFTRA, the Stockholm group of photographers, with Kenneth Gustavsson. At the same time, he taught at Christer Stromholm's school. He began to photograph for magazines, and he continued his personal photo diary work, which continues to this day. He has photographed for extensive periods of time in prisons, mental asylums, and homes for old people.

In 1978, Petersen received a grant from the Swedish Authors' Foundation. In 2003, he was elected Photographer of the Year at the Recontres d'Arles. In 2007, he was one of four finalists for the £30,000 Deutsche Börse Photography Prize.

Peteresen has published more than 20 books, mostly in Sweden, and has had solo and group exhibitions throughout Europe and Asia.

[edit] Statements by Anders Petersen about his work

"The people at the Café Lehmitz had a presence and a sincerity that I myself lacked. It was okay to be desperate, to be tender, to sit all alone or share the company of others. There was a great warmth and tolerance in this destitute setting."

"To me, it's encounters that matter, pictures are much less important."

"I can't describe reality; at the most, I can try to capture things that seem to be valid, the way I see them."

[edit] References

Anders Petersen, Photo Poche #98, published 2004, Actes Sud. ISBN 2-7427-4964-0
Les Recontres d'Arles Photographie 2006, published 2006, Actes Sud.