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 portraits of
transgender women in Paris.[1] Strömholm received the 1997
Hasselblad Award.[2]
Life and career
Strömholm was born in Vaxholm, Sweden, to Lizzie Strömholm and Fredrik Strömholm, an army officer. His childhood was marked by family instability. The family moved frequently, and in 1924 his parents divorced, but remarried shortly thereafter. In 1934, Strömholm's father committed suicide.
Beginning in 1933, Strömholm was active in the
NaziNordic Youth movement, modelled after
Hitler Youth. He led one of its cells during this time, and in 1936 hoisted a flag of a
swastika on the
People's House in Stockholm.[3] Over the course of his young adulthood, however, his political perspective changed; he joined the
Swedish Volunteer Corps at the age of 21, and supported the Norwegian resistance movement later in the war.[4]
In 1937 Strömholm travelled to Dresden to study art under the German painter
Woldemar Winkler [
de].[5] However, he came into conflict with
Paul Klee and other
Bauhaus artists, and his stay in Dresden was brief.[6]
Strömholm was a member of
Otto Steinert's
Fotoform group of photographers for subjective photography.[2] He co-founded Fotoskolan academy in Stockholm in 1962 and was its director.[7] Alumni of the school include production designer
Anna Asp, cinematographer
Bille August, and photographers
Anders Petersen,
Björn Dawidsson (Dawid), and
Gunnar Smoliansky.[8] He is noted for his depictions of
transsexual women in the
Place Blanche area of 1950-1960s' Paris, published as Les amies de Place Blanche.[9] The historian Philip Charrier has investigated how Strömholm represents his Place Blanche trans subjects relative to their own self-narratives and period societal views on transgenderism.[10] The critic
Sean O'Hagan, writing in The Guardian, said he "is known as the father of Swedish photography both for his abiding influence and for his role as a teacher."[9]
In 1998 Strömholm received the 1997
Hasselblad Award. The award citation described him as "one of Scandinavia's leading photographers, and [...] the first post-war photographer to gain international renown".[2]
Books
Poste Restante. P. A. Norstedt & Söners Förlag, 1967. With a transcript of an interview with Strömholm, "Before the Photographs." Swedish-language edition.
Stockholm: Art & Theory, 2016.
ISBN9789188031365. With a transcript of an interview with Strömholm, "Before the Photographs." English-language edition.
Les Amies de Place Blanche. ETC Sweden, 1983
Kloka ord (Wise Words). Legus, 1997.
ISBN978-9-188192-42-4. A collection of aphorisms and work notes.
Les Amies de Place Blanche. Stockport, Cheshire: Dewi Lewis, 2012.
ISBN978-1-907893-15-5; and Villejuif, France: Aman Iman, 2013.
ISBN2953391053. Re-edited from the original edition.
^Philip Charrier, "The Trans Body in Christer Strömholm's Vännerna Från Place Blanche (1981)", Photographies 15(1) 2022: 33-56; Philip Charrier, "The Photographic Gaze Meets the Medical Gaze: Two Cross-Dressing Men in Christer Strömholm's Place Blanche," Photography and Culture 14(1) 2021: 51-70.
^Philip Charrier, "The Trans body in Christer Strömholm's Vännerna Från Place Blanche" (1981), Photographies 15(1) 2022: 33-56; Philip Charrier, "The Photographic Gaze Meets the Medical Gaze: Two Cross-Dressing Men in Christer Strömholm's Place Blanche," Photography and Culture 14(1) 2021: 51-70.