The exhibition is also based on two types of portraits; the classic, where people look straight into the camera and confront it, and images of people with their backs turned to the camera. Do we really get to know more about a person because we see their face? What details appear more clearly when we receive less visual information? The allure of facing someone’s gaze in an image – to come close and identify with someone – is contrasted with the enigmatic nature of the back images. Together with traditional portraits, an interesting exchange arises where we, as viewers, can reflect on the potentials and limitations of the photographic portrait.

The images in the exhibition are part of the Hasselblad Foundation collection, which consists of roughly 3,000 works. The collection focuses on Hasselblad Award winners and photographers who have been exhibited at the Hasselblad Center over the years.

The 36 represented photographers from the Hasselblad Foundation collection are:

Yngve Baum, Bolette Berg & Marie Høeg, Elin Berge, Edouard Boubat, Rineke Dijkstra, Tina Enghoff, Walker Evans, Bengt-Arne Falk, Maria Friberg, David Goldblatt, Hans Gedda, Denise Grünstein, Kerstin Hamilton, Charlotte Haslund-Christensen, Jean Hermansson, Graciela Iturbide, Sune Jonsson, Jens S Jensen, Stig T Karlsson, Axel Annica Karlsson Rixon, Marjaana Kella, Kent Klich, Adriana Lestido, Tuija Lindström, Mary Ellen Mark, Georg Oddner, Anders Petersen, Jorma Puranen, Sebastião Salgado, Johannes Samuelsson, August Sander, Henrik Saxgren, Malick Sidibé, Christer Strömholm and Lars Tunbjörk.

Duration: 11 February – 7 May, 2023

Hasselblad Foundation