News
A preliminary study of grief (lighten my heart) at Centrum för fotografi in Stockholm
For the work A preliminary study of grief (lighten my heart), Maria Sandgren has conducted an archaeological excavation of the emotion of grief. She explores how grief can be perceived by someone who has lost a loved one. The loss occurs at a specific moment, and the feelings become intensely felt and last for a long time. The inspiration for the excavation comes from Mourning diary (2009/2018) by Roland Barthes, in which he describes the strong, unpredictable, and painful emotions of grief after a loss.
Maria Sandgren will show this preliminary study of grief in pictures and text at a group exhibition on June, 10-15th at the Centre for Photography in Stockholm.
Circles of Care at Hasselblad Fotosalong 2025
At Hasselblad Fotosalong 2025, five pictures from my photobook An Unfolded Collection will be exhibited. The selection of images is called Circles of Care and is about the eternal and silent gestures of care that women show others. The series shows a woman making a bed for someone else to sleep in. The next day, the women will make the bed again.
The Hasselblad Fotosalong opens on May 23rd and is running to September 28th.
Untitled #1 at Exposition The Exposed Eye at Alingsås konsthall
At Alingsås konsthall, Helga Härenstam and Anna Strand are showcasing another exhibition of The Exposed Eye. They invited others contribute with the prompt to ”Do something about The End.” My response was the picture Untitled #1 on creative spaces. Creative spaces can be seen as passages in our lives more or less accessible, yet always temporary.
If you have the chance, do visit Alingsås konsthall on April 9th.
Hold Forth Photography – Webinar
We invite those creating photographic works to our first webinar on Wednesday, May 14th at 6.30-7.30 pm. We will present why we have started HFP and about future workshops and courses. If you would like to register, do so here. Yet, this time the webinar is in Swedish.
We plan for workshops and courses for English-speaking photographers in future. If you are interested, you are welcome to register for our newsletter and updates.
Hold Forth Photography – Photography and Psychology
In this blog I tell about the idea about creating Hold Forth Photography and how it unfolded. The idea of linking psychology to photography in workshops and courses was clear to me, yet I needed to closer reflect on how psychology would contribute to photographic understanding and practice. I know the importance of psychology for my photographic work. The question was what kind of psychology would fit Hold Forth Photography. The titel of the blog text is Ideas, changes and photography. The text is in Swedish.
Hold Forth Photography – Workshops and Courses
hannah goldstein and I have started Hold Forth Photography (home page in Swedish). We will offer workshops and courses in photography, its practice, on relations and the life span, and psychology.
We plan for workshops and courses for English-speaking photographers in future. If you are interested, we can mail you our newsletter and updates in English.
The photobook An Unfolded Collection is published
The photobook An Unfolded Collection is about the eternal and silent gestures of care that women show others. I have portrayed these gestures in a series of pictures and poems. The series shows a woman making a bed where someone else will lie down, sleep, dream, and wake up. The next day, the woman will make the bed again.
During a visit to the Maison Européenne de la Photographie in Paris, Zanele Muholi's works were on display. A series of self-portraits, Somnyama Ngonyama (Hail The Dark Lioness), made a strong impression. One of the self-portraits was about her mother and the mother's strenuous life as a parent and provider for her children. I was inspired to portray women's constant responsibility for children and home, and I chose to illustrate the ritual of making a bed for someone else.
A Blog on Psychology and Photography
To engage in photography is an intriguing activity and to write about photography is also very meaningful. When I write text, I discover even more about photography. I distance myself from my photographic practice and connect with other contexts where psychology can tell me something that my practice does not show. For this joyful and intellectual reason, I created the blog Maria Sandgren Studio.
My texts will be about photography, creativity and psychology – about what makes the photographic practice expland, flow, enrich, satisfy and much more for us photographers. No solutions are promised, but more perspectives to feel and think more about photography.