A Long-Distance Runner

Featuring Stefan Bladh Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Stefan Bladh captures realities that fascinate our imagination as the scenes suggest an emotional layer that resonates and offers to be lived and felt. The documentary approach is presented through a cinematic angle. It allows creating a more comprehensive story, building characters and anticipation for the possible next frame. Stefan speaks about his technique, “I guess my work on many levels is an exploration of the human condition.

I am not sure what is happening when shooting or why I take certain pictures and that it is part of my method. I want to be driven by some kind of instinct and intuition.” Stefan's work examines existential questions and the interrelationship between the inner and outer worlds of his subjects. The images leave a permanent impression on the viewer in the exploration of humanness and the motion of life.

Stefan Bladh is a Swedish photographer, filmmaker, and musician currently based in Stockholm. He studied in Nordens Fotoskola, had numerous solo exhibitions around Europe for over fifteen years. In addition to his practice as a photographer, Stefan recently created a film Without Longing No Image - A Portrait Of Photographer Anders Petersen (2019) and released an EP, The Island (2021). We speak with Stefan about the start of his journey and the decisions he made after the graduation of the photo school. Stefan describes the process of working on his first monograph and documentary work 'The Family' (2010), and his book 'The Hidden Kingdom' (2017). We attempt to learn the main questions Stefan tries to answer with his work and how personal encounters affect the chosen themes.

‘I guess the main challenge for every photographer is to be able to find space and time for developing one's own voice and visual language.’

My Story

We’re happy to have you in WÜL. After graduating from Nordens Fotoskola in Stockholm, what were the main challenges you faced on your path to making photography your career?

I guess the main challenge for every photographer is to be able to find space and time for developing one's own voice and visual language. And finding the balance between paying your rent and being able to go out and do your projects. After I graduated from photo school back in 2003, I was offered a job as a staff photographer at one of the biggest morning papers in Sweden, but I did not take it. Instead, I wanted to try my wings and focus on my own photography. I guess that was an important choice, maybe not so strategic from an economic point of view, but I gave myself time to just focus on my own work. Another challenge for young creators is to keep on believing in their work. You have to be a long-distance runner and a bit obsessed, I guess.

‘I am interested in some kind of reaction to what I see and feel. To find yourself in the middle of something, as I write in the Hidden Kingdom’s afterword. There are so many great possibilities if you are curious and try to be open to the moment.’

Hidden Kingdom

With the publication of the book Hidden Kingdom (2017), with which you presented ten years of extensive work and journey across Eastern-European countries, you earned acclamation in the world of photography, also winning several prestigious awards. How do you think this travel, encountering people in various countries, and work changed you on a personal level?

Around the year 2008, I decided to give myself time to just roam around. Carry as little as possible, go out and take pictures, which is one of the best things in life. That type of photography takes a lot of patience, and many times, you feel so confused about what you’re doing. Then suddenly, you meet someone, or you experience something, and 'life is coming back.' I am interested in some kind of reaction to what I see and feel. To find yourself in the middle of something, as I write in the Hidden Kingdom’s afterword. There are so many great possibilities if you are curious and try to be open to the moment. I guess when you learn a lot about yourself when you, on one hand, encounter new people and different life situations, and also, at the same time, are pretty alone. It gives you a lot of time for reflection on our precious life.

‘But I guess there is always a red line ⎯ it is all about asking simple questions like, ‘Who am I and why are we here?’’

The Human Being

Your deep and authentic interest in people and their stories appears to be one of the central drives and themes you research throughout your body of work from the book Family (2010) onwards. The moment captured is a small part of the bigger story that continues in the viewer’s mind, building the characters and events that exist between reality and fiction. What is your approach to taking a photograph on the spot; which stories do you find fascinating to drive attention to? 

For me, it is a combination of many things. I guess, first of all, I want to understand things, to know, and to feel, to find myself in new situations. The Family project was, in many senses, a classic documentary work, following a family and their life and struggling for many years, while later doing pictures totally without any specific framework (like the Hidden Kingdom). With my series from Kaliningrad, I wanted to work mostly around portraits and used a really slow process with a large format camera. But I guess there is always a red line ⎯ it is all about asking simple questions like, ‘Who am I and why are we here?’

‘I see my work more as questions without any given answers, a sort of meditation over life itself, a search for imaginary scenes and personal encounters. I guess my work on many levels is an exploration of the human condition.’

The Theme

With the photographs, it appears you are constantly creating new universes, in-depth atmospheric experiences, researching the feelings that lay beyond the superficial. What questions are you trying to answer, and which themes are the most fascinating for you in your research? 

I see my work more as questions without any given answers, a sort of meditation over life itself, a search for imaginary scenes and personal encounters. I guess my work on many levels is an exploration of the human condition. I am not sure what is happening when shooting or why I take certain pictures and that it is part of my method. I want to be driven by some kind of instinct and intuition. I can think about what happened and the meaning of specific images/series afterward. For me, when I think about these questions, it always, more or less, comes down to the concept of impermanence.

Music & Film

The additional angles to your practice are working on music with the EP, The Island, released in 2021, the project Sharp Nude, and your work on film Without Longing No Image - A Portrait Of Photographer Anders Petersen. Could you share a moment, a realization, a feeling that summarizes for you one of those projects? 

The EP, The Island, is a process of a painful separation in the middle of the pandemic. The time of isolation was a good time to dive into music-making, something I always wanted to do. I guess I always dreamt of making music accompanying my photography, and this is a small step towards that.

A Sneak Peek 

Could you provide us a sneak peek into the project you’re currently working on? You spoke about a new book to be released in 2022, could you give us some details about the theme and what to expect?

I am working on a new book called Envoi that is being released together with Kerber Verlag in the spring, hopefully. It is a collection of images from over the years, both black and white and color. A series of images haunt me with questions and make me wonder about our common longing, needs, and our nature. Life and death, aging and suffering. Our imagined idea of a separate self but still so closely intertwined into each other.