Petersen Anders

Swedish. Born in 1944 in Solna. Lives in Stockholm.

« The alumnus and friend of Christer Stromhölm remains as usual attached to the human being, to his enigma, to his solitude and to the depth of the complex feelings that he knew how to bring to light as well to the psychiatric hospital in prison. To succeed in this deep "truth", he lives with those whom he photographs. He summarizes perfectly the dilemma which is his own: "I know that to make good photos, to be for the just distance, I have to have one foot inside and one foot outside. My problem is that, at the end, I have always two feet inside!"

It dates from beginning when, in 1967, he settles down for three years in a bar of the port of Hamburg, the cafe Lehmnitz, haunted by the sailors on a binge, the prostitutes, the lost and the alcoholics of the district. There, we drink, we dance, we love each other, we cry, we sing. Anders lives there, takes photos in flight and draws up a deeply moving portrait of a drifing humanity, which he likes profoundly. And he reveals, in rare situations of marginalization, an intensity and the truth of the feelings. »

Christian Caujolle, Agence VU’ Galerie, Photo Poche n°107, Actes Sud, 2006