Martin Bogren (born 1967) is a Swedish documentary photographer, living in Malmö.[1][2] He has made "understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white."[3]
Bogren has had solo exhibitions of Lowlands[4] and Italia[5] at Fotografiska in Stockholm, Sweden, and of Ocean at Blue Sky Gallery in Portland, Oregon.[6] Lowlands has also been shown in group exhibitions at Moderna Museet Malmö[7] and Moderna Museet, Stockholm.[8] His work is held in the collections of Fotografiska[9] and of Portland Art Museum.[10]
Bogren grew up in Skurup, Skåne County (also known as Scania County), Sweden.[11][4]
In the early 1990s he photographed bands and artists.[1] He toured for several years with the Swedish pop group the Cardigans, making a "diaristic book", The Cardigans: Been it (1997).[1][12] He has since established his signature style,[12] making—in the words of Sean O'Hagan in The Guardian—"understated books full of quietly observed moments shot in grainy black and white."[3] In Ocean (2008) "his subjects were a group of men from Rajasthan, who had travelled the 1,000-odd miles from their inland home by minibus to bathe in the sea for the first time."[12] For Lowlands (2011), Bogren revisited his childhood home of Skurup over 4 years, "to portray the inhabitants, environments and atmosphere of the village",[11] "a rural Swedish idyll peopled with strange and beautiful characters."[12] For Tractor Boys (2013) "he immersed himself in the enclosed world of a group of adolescent boys from rural Sweden who customise and race old cars for fun."[3] Italia (2016), made in Naples, Palermo, Bologna and Turin, is "Bogren's take on street photography".[3] August Song (2020) was made during summers between 2013 and 2018, at music venues hidden in woods on the outskirts of villages in rural parts of Sweden.[13] Passenger (2021) was made over several stays in Calcutta, India and for the first time mixes colour photographs with his usual black and white.[14]
Bogren's work is held in the following collections: