Fotografiska

The Photography Museum in Stockholm – or how to built success in art in 5 years. If you google “things to do in Stockholm” Fotografiska will come up as one of the hot spots. So what is so exciting about a museum of photography opened in 2010? How is it possible to become a top place to see in such a short time; with over 500,000 visitors a year?

Even the creation of the museum is an inspiring story about passion and about achieving success through doing what you love. The museum is a private initiative of two brothers Per and Jan Broman, who were the sons of a photographer and who were practically raised in a photo lab. As a result they both become photographers and after long careers in photography they initiated the Photo Fair in Stockholm and Gothenburg. But what they really dreamt about was a photography museum in Stockholm.

The idea about a museum came up earlier in 2008 when they organized a David LeChapelle exhibition in an old factory. The exhibition attracted more than 15,000 people and media attention and the brothers started thinking seriously about opening a museum of photography. The first step was to rent the space and they started driving around Stockholm looking for the right spot. They spent months looking for the appropriate place but they did not even come close to what they were looking for. One day in the autumn of 2008 they were having a drink at the Strand Hotel bar and overhead somebody say: There won’t be an ABBA museum at Stora Tulhuset. That afternoon, they looked at the property which 18 months later became Fotografiska Museum.

But finding the right place was only the beginning: the place needed renovation and therefore financing. Although they were seeking financing the two brothers wanted to remain independent; they wanted to have the power and freedom to implement their dream of creating more than a museum: an international meeting place surrounded by art in the highest form.

Outstanding exhibitions:

– Annie Leibovitz, Anton Corbijn, Helmut Newton, Steve Schapiro, Motohiko Odani

– Excellent restaurant

– An impressive cafeteria and a restaurant with great food and coffee and brunches on Sunday. The café on top of the building offers a beautiful view over Stockholm.

– Unconventional spaces for conferences

– An acclaimed academy that offers courses and workshops for both amateur and experienced photographers

– A shop featuring an extensive selection of photographic books

– A commercial gallery space for contemporary photography

– Hosting various forms of entertainment on its premises, such as artist talks and opening nights, as well as music entertainment and pop-up nightclubs.

Fotografiska exhibitions

– Annie Leibovitz, A Photographers life, May 21 – September 19, 2010

 -Lennart Nilsson, A Child is Born, May 21 – September 5, 2010.

– Joel-Peter Witkin, Bodies, May 21 – August 22, 2010.

– Vee Speers, The Birthday Party, May 21 – September 5, 2010.[1]

– Anders Petersen, From Back Home, June 10 – September 5, 2010.

– Sandy Skoglund, The Artificial Mirror, September 10 – November 6, 2010.

– Pieter ten Hoopen, Stockholm, September 10 – November 28, 2010.[2]

– Fashion!, September 24, 2010 – January 9, 2011.[3]

– Lars Tunbjörk, Wunder-Baum, September 24 – November 8, 2010.

– Hanna Ljung, How to Civilize a War, November 9 – December 7, 2010.

– Gus Van Sant, One Step Big Shot, November 9 – December 5, 2010.

– Nils Petter Löfstedt, The Pier, December 9, 2010 – January 9, 2011.

– Nils Olof Hedenskog & Joakim Brolin, Creeping in Circles, January 14 – March 3, 2011.

– Jean-Marie Simon, Guatemala. Eternal Spring – Eternal Tyranny, February 10 – March 6, 2011.

– Christopher Makos, Lady Warhol, December 9, 2010 – March 20, 2011.

– Sarah Moon, 12345, January 14 – April 17, 2011.[4]

– Jonathan Torgovnik, Intended Consequences, March 8 – May 1, 2011.

– VII Photo Agency, Starved for Attention, May 4–29, 2011

– Albert Watson, Retrospective, March 25 – June 12, 2011.

– Burtynksy, Burtynsky/Oil, April 22 – June 26, 2011.[5]

– Eleanor Coppola, Circle of Memory, June 18 – August 21, 2011

– Jacob Felländer, I Want To Live Close To You, May 6 – August 28, 2011

– Jacqueline Hellmann, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, May 31 – August 21, 2011

– Liu Bolin, The Invisible Man, July 2 – September 18, 2011

– Peter Farago & Ingela Klemetz-Farago, Northern Women in CHANEL, July 1 – September 18, 2011

– Robert Mapplethorpe, Retrospective, June 17 – October 3, 2011

– Klara Källström, Black Drop Island, September 2 – October 9, 2011

– Aichi Hirano, ROLLS Tohoku, March 31