Lars Tunbjörk. Latvia (1996), I love Borås! (1988–1995) and Office (1994–1999)
Lars Tunbjörk. Latvia (1996), I love Borås! (1988–1995) and Office (1994–1999)
Text by curator Love Jönsson
Swedish photographer Lars Tunbjörk (1956–2015) pictured the world around him in a distinctly personal style. Having started his career as a photojournalist at the local daily in his hometown of Borås in the 1970s, he soon established himself as a prominent freelance photographer. Around 1990 he found his signature style, marked by strong colours, drastic humour, and an inclinination for everyday scenes verging on the strange and surreal.
Many of Lars Tunbjörk’s motifs were found in the periphery, in places such as discount stores, roadhouses, parking areas and caravan sites. Oftentimes the people he met and portrayed look a bit awkward and lost. At first glance, Lars Tunbjörk’s photographs can appear ironical, or even cynical, but they were grounded in empathy and identification. “He did not photograph them”, Swedish author and filmmaker Göran Odbratt wrote in retrospect about his work; “he was photographing us.”
Writer and Tunbjörk’s friend Per Lindström recalls: “In 1995, Lars Tunbjörk exhibits his seria “Landet utom sig / Country Beside itself” at the International Center of Photography (ICP) in New York - in the world’s leading institution dedicated to photography. The pictures had fire engine red frames and at the opening, the cream of New York's photographic greats crowded around the shy Swede. In the photo project “Landet utom sig”, Lars Tunbjörk's breakthrough, he seeks out people at campsites, shopping centers and department stores to tell the story of the market economy's sudden arrival in Sweden, a social development that in the 1990s was also global. With his medium format camera and homemade flash, he created absurdist images full of both humor and sadness. A 'tunbjörkare' became a concept, and he wrote himself into the history of photography. It was a great moment not only for Lars Tunbjörk personally but also for Swedish photography. ICP's exhibition director Charles Stainback spoked of Tunbjörk as "an important talent" and innovator, comparing him to Friedlander and Eggleston, and a few days later the New York Times gave a thumbs up to the images of sun-soaked vacationers and retirees with a look of extravagance in their eyes.”
This exhibition in Art Station Dubulti "Something beautiful in the ugly and ugly in the seemingly beautiful" marks Lars Tunbjörk’s long-term relationship with Latvia. The Latvian Museum of Photography in Riga presented his images in a solo exhibition already in 1997. Over the years, Lars Tunbjörk made several trips to Latvia and made friends with Latvian colleagues, among them Inta Ruka and Andrejs Grants. Lars Tunbjörk visited both urban and rural areas. “Those we met in rural Latvia had never seen his pictures and had no idea that he was a famous photographer”, Inta Ruka remembers. “They saw only his modesty and humility. They felt a rapport with him.”
The exhibition features three parts: Latvia (1996), I love Borås! (1988–1995) and Office (1994–1999). Seen together, these three series – all from roughly the same era – convey Lars Tunbjörk’s unique way of photographing and underline the emotional impact of his images. The exhibition is curated by Inga Šteimane, Love Jönsson and Maud Nycander.
Public programme: Lars Tunbjörk's exhibition in Art Station Dubulti is tied to an extensive programme that starts with the vernissage at 5 p.m. on 25 October. This is followed by a guided tour with the curators Love Jönsson, Maud Nycander, Inga Šteimane and photographer Inta Ruka at 2 p.m. on 26 October. Guided tours with the curator Inga Šteimane will be at 2 p.m. on 27 October, at 2 p.m. on 8 December and at 2 p.m. on 12 January. Admission to all the events is free of charge. The exhibition is open daily till 26 January from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Guided tours can be booked online at dubulti.art.station@gmail.com.
Art Station Dubulti is Europe’s only professional exhibition venue in a functioning railway station. Open since 2015, it keeps adding a new dimension to an iconic building constructed in the modernist style of the 1970s. Art Station Dubulti produces and hosts solo exhibitions by leading Latvian artists and delivers international projects emphasising the art–viewer dialogue. The station’s exhibition programme is supported by the Jūrmala City Council and State Culture Capital Foundation. Art Station Dubulti was opened and continues to be run by its director, art historian Inga Šteimane.
The exhibition is supported by the Jūrmala City Council and State Culture Capital Foundation, the Embassy of Sweden, the Sweden-Latvia Cooperation Fund, the Lars Tunbjörk Foundation, the Tore G Wärenstam Foundation and gallery Fabriken Bästekille.
More about Lars Tunbjörk https://tunbjork.se/om-lars-tunbjork