Bruno Ehrs & Tom Wolgers

Stockholm – Pieces of a City

In the 1980s, photographer Bruno Ehrs joined forces with the musician Tom Wolgers in Stockholm. Together, they headed out into the sleeping city’s early mornings, where Ehrs photographed and Wolgers recorded the urban soundscape. Their work resulted in two exhibitions, and just over 30 years later these works are being combined at Fotografiska in the exhibition Stockholm – Pieces of a City. The exhibition, which opens on September 23, creates a photographic and musical backdrop to a city in constant change.

Image above: Stockholm City Hall, December 9, 1985 © Bruno Ehrs

alt — Bruno Ehrs & Tom Wolgers, Slussen, 1986 © Yvonne Degerman

experimental spirit of modernism

In the 1980s, Bruno Ehrs and Tom Wolgers were active in circles inspired by the experimental spirit of modernism and by the cosmopolitan culture of the years between the world wars. The duo’s first exhibition, Stockholm Exhibition 1982, refers to the legendary Stockholm Exhibition 1930, which introduced functionalism to Sweden, and there is a strong link between the radical ideas and expressions of the different periods. The title of their second exhibition, The Stockholm Suite, which opened in 1987, has a more explicit musical reference where Tom Wolgers’ contribution is a personal experience of the city.

“In the portraits for the Stockholm Exhibition 1982, I used objects from the city as a photographic backdrop, where I was driven by the idea that the city was an unconscious designer of the backdrops. For The Stockholm Suite, I wanted to portray the modern city with as much clarity and sharpness as possible. Far from romantic sentimentality,” says Bruno Ehrs.

portraits, architectural photography and music

The exhibition, which opens September 23 at Fotografiska, is entitled Stockholm – Pieces of a City. It represents a fusion of the two earlier exhibitions from the 1980s with 52 curated photographs by Ehrs and 23 musical tracks by Wolgers to weave portraits, architectural photography and music together. Its dynamic character reinvigorates both the works and casts new light on Stockholm.

alt — Heinz, student. Sergelarkaden, 1982 © Bruno Ehrs

alt — Corner of Smala Gränd & David Bagares Gata, July 19, 1986. © Bruno Ehrs

“nightly walkabouts in the city...”

“The exhibit is an interpretation of Stockholm, where Tom Wolgers’ music and Bruno Ehrs’ photographs combine to create a lyrical soundscape with impressions from quiet summer mornings and nightly walkabouts in the city. The music also amplifies the abstract qualities of the photographs, which allows these different forms of expression to approach each other,” says Joakim Geiger, who curated the exhibition together with Niclas Östlind.

Bruno Ehrs (1953– ) is one of Sweden’s most influential photographers. Over his 40 year career, he had a large number of solo exhibitions of architectural and portrait photography and photographed for many international well-known brands. Ehrs is represented at the Nationalmuseum and Moderna Museet.

Tom Wolgers (1959–2020) was a musician and composer. He performed in the legendary pop band Lustans Lakejer but also had his own musical projects and had a major impact on Swedish culture and music.

Sofia Liljergren is Fotografiska Stockholm’s exhibition producer.