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This book presents little-known photos by the legendary Christer Strömholm selected by Gunnar Smoliansky. In the late eighties gallerist Kim Klein proposed a small exhibition of Strömholm´s pictures at the Lido Gallery in Stockholm. Strömholm agreed and entrusted Smoliansky with making a selection from his early 6 x 6 Rolleiflex negatives. Smoliansky was delighted to do so-the planned ten to twelve photos soon ballooned to 70-and he printed two sets, one for Strömholm and one for himself. The photos date from the late 1940s and early ´50s and show Strömholm´s formative years in Paris, the south of France, Morocco and other destinations. Most of these pictures had never before been printed, let alone publicized, until that exhibition of 1990.

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Strömholm, Christer
Christer Strömholm (1918-2002) was one of the most influential Scandinavian photographers and the recipient of the 1997 Hasselblad Award. Born in Stockholm, in 1946 Strömholm moved to Paris where he discovered photography. Between 1949 and ´54 he joined the German group of photographers Fotoforum, led by Otto Steinert, and participated in their exhibitions in Europe and America. Perhaps Strömholm´s most influential series is "Les Amies de la Place Blanche," documenting the transsexuals of Paris´ Place Blanche in the late fifties and early sixties. From 1962 to ´74 he was director of Fotoskolan in Stockholm where he trained over 1,200 students, many of whom would become leading photographers including Anders Petersen, Dawid, Bille August and Gunnar Smoliansky.

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