Martin Bogren (born 1967) is a Swedish documentary photographer, living in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

. He has made "understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white." Bogren has had solo exhibitions of ''Lowlands'' and ''Italia'' at

Fotografiska Fotografiska (Swedish for “photographic”) is one of the most successful photography museums worldwide, dedicated to inspiring a more conscious world through the power of photography, art, and culture. Founded in Stockholm in 2010, Fotograf ...

in Stockholm, Sweden, and of ''Ocean'' at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon. ''Lowlands'' has also been shown in group exhibitions at

Moderna Museet Malmö Moderna Museet Malmö is a museum of modern and contemporary art located in Malmö, Sweden. It is a part of the state-owned Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skepps ...

and

Moderna Museet Moderna Museet is a state museum for modern and contemporary art located on the island of Skeppsholmen in central Stockholm, opened in 1958. In 2009, the museum opened Moderna Museet Malmö in Malmö. History The museum opened in Stockh ...

, Stockholm. His work is held in the collections of Fotografiska and of

Portland Art Museum The Portland Art Museum (PAM) is an art museum in downtown Portland, Oregon, United States. The Portland Art Museum has 240,000 square feet (22,000 m2), with more than 112,000 square feet (10,400 m2) of gallery space. The museum’s permanent c ...

Life and work

Bogren grew up in

Skurup Skurup is a locality and the seat of Skurup Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to ...

Skåne County Skåne County ( ), sometimes referred to as Scania County or just Scania in English, is the southernmost Counties of Sweden, county, or , of Sweden, mostly corresponding to the traditional Provinces of Sweden, province of Scania. It borders th ...

(also known as Scania County), Sweden. In the early 1990s he photographed bands and artists. He toured for several years with the Swedish pop group

the Cardigans The Cardigans are a Swedish rock band formed in Jönköping, Sweden in 1992. The main lineup of the band consisted of guitarist Peter Svensson, bassist Magnus Sveningsson, drummer Bengt Lagerberg, keyboardist Lars-Olof Johansson and lead sing ...

, making a "diaristic book", ''The Cardigans: Been it'' (1997). He has since established his signature style, making—in the words of

Sean O'Hagan Sean O'Hagan (born 1959) is an Irish singer and songwriter who leads the avant-pop band the High Llamas, which he founded in 1992. He is also known for being one half of the songwriting duo (with Cathal Coughlan) in Microdisney and for his wor ...

in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''—"understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white." In ''Ocean'' (2008) "his subjects were a group of men from Rajasthan, who had travelled the 1,000-odd miles from their inland home by minibus to bathe in the sea for the first time." For ''Lowlands'' (2011), Bogren revisited his childhood home of Skurup over 4 years, "to portray the inhabitants, environments and atmosphere of the village", "a rural Swedish idyll peopled with strange and beautiful characters." For ''Tractor Boys'' (2013) "he immersed himself in the enclosed world of a group of adolescent boys from rural Sweden who customise and race old cars for fun." ''Italia'' (2016), made in Naples, Palermo, Bologna and Turin, is "Bogren's take on

street photography Street photography is photography conducted for art or inquiry that features unmediated chance encounters and random incidents within Public space, public places. It usually has the aim of capturing images at a decisive or poignant moment by caref ...

". ''August Song'' (2020) was made during summers between 2013 and 2018, at music venues hidden in woods on the outskirts of villages in rural parts of Sweden. ''Passenger'' (2021) was made over several stays in Calcutta, India and for the first time mixes colour photographs with his usual black and white. Bogren lives in

, Sweden.

Publications

Books of work by Bogren

*''The Cardigans: Been it''. Tiden, 1997. . Photographs by Bogren, text by and . *''Ocean.'' Finn Larsen, 2008. . *''Lowlands''. Max Strom, 2011. . *''Tractor Boys''. Stockport:

Dewi Lewis Dewi Lewis (born Denbigh, Wales, 10 March 1951) is a publisher and curator of photography. Career In 1975, Lewis was the founding director of the Bury, Greater Manchester, Bury Metropolitan Arts Association which operates The Met (arts centre), ...

, 2013. . With an essay by Christian Caujolle.Caujolle's essay is availabl
here
at the ''1000 Words'' website *''Italia''. Max Ström, 2016. . Includes a short prose pamphlet by Bogren. *''August Song''. Bentivoglio, Italy: L'Artiere, 2020. . Edition of 1000 copies. *''Passenger''. Lamaindonne, 2021. . *''A Summer of a Thousand Years''. L'axolotl, 2024. .

Artist books by Bogren

*''Notes.'' Stockholm: Stockholms Fotoantikvariat, 2008. . *''Embraces.'' Self-published, 2014. Edition of 150 copies. *''Hollow''. Self-published, 2018. Edition of 15 copies.

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

*''Ocean'', Blue Sky Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 2009 *''Martin Bogren: Lowlands'',

, Stockholm, Sweden, 2011 *''Martin Bogren: Italia'', Fotografiska, Stockholm, Sweden, 2016/17

Group exhibitions

*''A Way of Life: Swedish Photography from Christer Strömholm until Today'',

, Malmö, Sweden, 2014;

, Stockholm, Sweden, 2014/15. With work by

Christer Strömholm Ture Christer Strömholm (22 July 1918 – 11 January 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 hi ...

, Bogren, Anna Clarén,

JH Engström JH Engström (born 1969) is a Swedish photographer, filmmaker and artist based in Paris. Biography Born in 1969 in Karlstad, Sweden, JH Engström has been developing for two decades a major work that questions the conditions of our existence in ...

, Kenneth Gustavsson, Gerry Johansson,

Tuija Lindström Tuija Lydia Elisabeth Lindström (5 May 1950 – 26 December 2017) was a Finnish- Swedish photographer, artist and professor of photography at School of Photography and Film, University of Gothenburg in Gothenburg, Sweden, 1992–2001. She lived a ...

, Anders Petersen, Inta Ruka, Gunnar Smoliansky,

Lars Tunbjörk Lars Tunbjörk (15 February 1956 – 8 April 2015) was a Swedish photographer known for his "deadpan portraits of office spaces and suburban lifestyles". Background Tunbjörk was born in the Swedish town of Borås, a place which was a big influe ...

, and others.

Collections

Bogren's work is held in the following collections: *

, Stockholm, Sweden *

, Portland, Oregon

Notes

References

External links

*
Bogren's profile at Agence Vu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bogren, Martin Documentary photographers 21st-century Swedish photographers People from Skurup Municipality Living people 1967 births