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 The legendary photographer Lennart af Petersens (1913-2004) is a new addition to the Xpose photographic gallery, where his contribution is a unique collection of vintage prints from the period 1929 to 1957. His long career as a successful architectural photographer began in the summer of 1936, with a series of photos from a cycling vacation in Österlen. The editorial staff of the Swedish Touring Club saw the collection and were impressed by the 23-year-old’s dramatic landscape images from Stenshuvud. From the 1930s to the 1950s, yearbooks were the most important media for photography and were also successful in gathering the best that Swedish photography had to offer. Apart from C.G. Rosenberg, Lennart af Petersens came to be the most dominant photographer. The Österlen collection led to extensive collaboration on the Swedish Touring Club’s yearbooks, beginning in 1940, when Lennart photographed medieval Gotland, and concluding 33 years later, when Stockholm was the subject. For many people, Lennart af Petersens is primarily known as the photographer who documented the city that disappeared. In such books as “Klara,” “Östermalm” and “Hötorget” from the years 1957 to 1964, he describes the appearance of the old core of the city, with streets, buildings and people, before insensitive city planners demolished 350 properties over a period of 30 years. Today, these photographs are important evidence of how valuable environments initially became gravel pits, before emerging as shopping malls, offices and parking garages. For Lennart af Petersens, this documentation became a partwork on Stockholm’s transition. This was an unyielding task which he continued as photographer at the Stockholm City Museum, where he worked until retirement. Lennart af Petersens’ esthetic style was not to reflect a city devoid of people and austere. Whereas the architectural photographers C.G. Rosenberg and, before him, Atget who recorded Paris, photographed the city early in the morning to avoid the presence of people, af Petersens did the opposite. With his individual style, blending strict architectural photography with equal parts of vivid reportage photography, he was fascinated by the atmosphere of the coachmaker, coppersmith, coffee ladies and firewood carriers. All with a charming small-town feel that he recognized from the Kristianstad of his childhood. In af Petersens’ world, the streets and squares were filled with a throng of people, traffic and trade. But he was also affected by the elegant aristocratic buildings of Lower Norrmalm, whose worn limestone doorways and decaying façade decor told the tale of the great status the palaces had once enjoyed. In the purely architectural photographs, it was possible to sense the presence of 1930s design, with lines, surfaces and bold angles. Since winning the “Photograph of the Year 1936” contest, Lennart af Petersens has put his stamp on the Swedish photography scene with his photographic art, which remains current and significant. Exhibitions One-man (selected) 1983 “Lennart af Petersens – retrospektivt”. Moderna Museet, Stockholm 1979 Helsingfors Stadsmuseum, Helsinki, Finland 1978 “Lennart af Petersens”. Stockholms Stadsmuseum, Stockholm Group exhibitions (selected) 1980 “Le Moderna Museet de Stockholm a Bruxelles”. Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels, Belgium 1962 “Svenskarna sedda av elva fotografer”. Moderna Museet, Stockholm 1954 “Svart-vitt, svensk fotografi av idag”. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 1948 “Stockholms Kameraklubb”. De Ungas Salong, Stockholm 1944 “Modern svensk fotokonst. Nationalmuseum, Stockholm 1939 “Det nya ögat – Fotografien 100 år”. Liljevalchs, Stockholm 1939 “Fotografien i 100 Aar”. Charlottenborg, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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