CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 8/6/2014

Sune Jonsson: Life and Work

"Sune Jonsson (1930–2009) occupies a unique place in photographic history. He produced work which explored and made visible the very private lives of the inhabitants of Sweden's most remote regions, producing an image of the northern countryside, which persists, despite Sweden's post-war emergence as a modern and sophisticated society. In the sparsely populated 'inland' of the north, as well as across the farming regions of Sweden, he chronicled the continuing struggle of men and women with weather, season and soil, intimated at the difficulties imposed by isolation and struggle, and injected into this his own politics and social concerns, as well as a homage to a rich and complex past. He described a rural environment settled in impermanent, transient ways, revolving around clearings made in dense forest, self-built houses, a few animals and crops–subsistence living on inhospitable land, its inhabitants characterized by both resilience and resignation." Text excerpt from Val Williams' essay and featured image, captioned "Alvar has picked lilies of the valley for his bride, Arnas, Ornskoldsvik, 1956," are reproduced from Max Ström's exquisite new release, Sune Jonsson: Life and Work.