Biography

Christer Strömholm (22 July 1918 in Stockholm – 11 January 2002 in Stockholm), 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. Strömholm was a student of art under Waldemar Winkler and Dick Beer.[1] He 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.[3] He is noted for his depictions of transsexuals in the Place Blanche area of 1950s' Paris, published as Les amies de Place Blanche.[4] 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."[4] 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]