Invited guest: Richard Gustafsson

Two brothers. One father. Gustaf, the younger brother, was introduced to photography by his older brother, Richard. Richard, in turn, was introduced by his father. A male lineage.

Among male photographers, this seems to be a very common story. What, exactly, is being inherited? The image-worlds of Gustaf and Richard, for example, are far apart, yet they share a common ancestry. Photography is only a method: the means to do something. It seems to be completely different factors shaping the content, the motives, the compositions. Something much more complex than ancestry: life. No less, I would argue.

In Richard's photographs we see lots of life, lots of experience. They are documents we all can relate to. As parents, daughters, sons, relatives, friends, etc, we often wish to have made the thousand-word portraits of the people close to us. Richard, in trying, comes very, very close.

In his own words:

Eight years ago I came across some pictures my father had taken. Pictures of our every day life in the mid-1970s. Apparently he was quite a good photographer, always carrying his camera with him, taking pictures of everyone and everything, documenting his family and friends. But I was horrified to hear how he by mistake threw away all his negatives and most of the prints. Now, I am trying to follow in his footsteps, trying to repeat what he accomplished. I will save my work, though.

Gustav and Richard Gustafsson have their own blog, Ollad av Tengil.

Invited by Joakim Sebring.