Peter Lindbergh

Lightness of Being

Picture above: Estelle Lefébure, Karen Alexander, Rachel Williams, Linda Evangelista, Tatjana Patitz & Christy Turlington, Santa Monica, California, 1988. © Peter Lindbergh. Courtesy Peter Lindbergh Foundation, Paris

The iconic images of Peter Lindbergh are coming to Fotografiska – for the first time ever in Sweden. The exhibit Lightness of Being opens on June 16 with over 100 works by this influential photographer, who is known around the world for redefining attitudes to fashion photography. “It is with great excitement that we are bringing Peter Lindbergh’s work to Stockholm,” says Benjamin Lindbergh, Peter’s son and President of the Peter Lindbergh Foundation.

Amber Valletta, New York, 1993. © Peter Lindbergh. Courtesy Peter Lindbergh Foundation, Paris

Angela Lindvall & Chris Dye, Warner Bros Studios, Burbank, California, 2004. © Peter Lindbergh. Courtesy Peter Lindbergh Foundation, Paris

His artistic legacy in a new light

For the first time in Sweden, this summer’s major exhibit, Lightness of Being, is showing photographs from the entire breadth of Peter Lindbergh’s vast career. With a unique eye and extraordinary esthetic focus, the German photographer Peter Lindbergh (1944–2019) became one of the world’s most prominent fashion photographers.

Most people recognize his 1990s iconic portraits of supermodels like Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford and Kate Moss and actors and artists like Kate Winslet, Uma Thurman, Mick Jagger and Alicia Vikander. His unique imagery has come to influence generations of photographers, designers and other creators. The exhibit at Fotografiska is a close collaboration with the Peter Lindbergh Foundation, led by the photographer’s son, Benjamin Lindbergh.

“First time in Sweden...”

“It is with great excitement that we are bringing Peter Lindbergh’s work to Stockholm. This exhibition marks the very first time presenting my father’s photographs in Sweden, thanks to Fotografiska. We hope this installation shining a new light on his legacy will pay tribute to his trailblazing vision on fashion photography, as well as resonate among younger generations. I believe the Lindbergh way of portraying women truthfully - without artifice or superficial filter - is still much relevant in regard to how beauty might be defined today”, says Benjamin Lindbergh.

Peter Lindbergh grew up in Germany before moving to Paris early on, to pursue his photographic career. Originally trained in fine arts, he turned to photography in the late 1970s, soon developing his own unique aesthetics. He was a master of black & white photography and utilized the entire scale from light to dark.

Lightness of Being has around 100 works in no particular chronological order. We are shown all the elements that inspired Peter Lindbergh in his work, from industrial landscapes to coastlines, from science-fiction to dance and 1920’s expressionism, as we dive into the art of creating striking narratives within the framework for a fashion cover.

“It has long been a dream for us to exhibit Peter Lindbergh at Fotografiska, and particularly in such an extensive exhibition as the one we have now created together with the Peter Lindbergh Foundation. Peter Lindbergh always succeeded in engendering a powerful authenticity in the meeting between the photographer and his subjects, with an aura of timelessness,” says Lisa Giomar Hydén, Director of Exhibitions at Fotografiska Stockholm.

Lightness of Being will be shown at Fotografiska Stockholm from June 16 to October 15, 2023.