591 Exhibition - Ulla Larsson

Photo © Ulla Larsson

I first met Ulla a couple of years ago when visiting an exhibition in Uppsala. She is a passionate photographer and organizer of the exhibitions at Uppsala Fotografiska sällskap a very active association of local photographers. Some of the people you have met on 591 (Markus Andersson and Christofer Grandin), including myself, have held exhibitions in the gallery located nearby the large cathedral.

I remember from a visit to the gallery
seeing a poster from an exhibition called "Kvinnor ser män" (women watch men). It got my attention - a simple and still very interesting approach. I am very happy to present a selection of Ulla's photos from that exhibition - and she tells the story better than anyone else about the project.

Photo © Ulla Larsson

Man of Main Street - a Woman's View

"The pictures on show here are from an exhibition called “Kvinnor ser män”. I wanted to take photographs of men in different roles or professions. The photos are captured in Los Angeles, USA where I usually spend about a month every year.

I didn´t want to show men at Muscle beach or depict celebrities and tourists - only ordinary men in their daily life. I usually take the picture first and then I ask about permission to use the photo and how.

I took a lot of photos of a man working for Los Angeles County Fire Department-Lifeguards
and had a long talk with him. He explained to me that this job was more a lifestyle than a profession. He was working full time. His grownup children a girl and a boy also worked in the Lifeguard-division.


The men are protecting a very large coastline and sometimes they also have to find and return lost children. The work as a Lifeguard is really important.

Photo © Ulla Larsson

I visited the new Getty museum and took a lot of pictures of the architecture… beautiful details.
But I was also thinking about the project Women watch Men…I got my eyes on a Buddhist monk…I had a feeling that he studied people more than the buildings around him. I followed him. And when I found him on the upper part of a flight of stairs I took a picture of him.

He didn´t notice that. But I wanted so much
to depict his serene face, so after gaining some strength I stopped in front of him and asked … “Do you allow me to take a photo of you… your face?”.
“No”, he said with humility. I understood this of course.

But I told him that I already had taken a photo of him from behind

“Can I use that one?” the pushy Swedish photographer asked him.
"Yes", he said and smiled. Good for me.
- © Ulla Larsson



Exhibition ended January 25, 2009


Ulla Larsson
Born: August 9

reborn 16 years ago when I got a camera
Lives in: Uppsala
Latest exhibition: Nov-Dec 2008 group show
Coming, planned exhibition: May 2009 group show
Inspiration (photographers): Elliot Erwitts photos of dogs make me smile and inspire me. Lennart Nilsson, Christer Strömholm, Michael Kenna, Pieter Ten Hoopen, Gunnar Smoliansky - love many of their photos.
Inspiration (other): Music a lot of…Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, LedZeppelin, Deep Purple, Bob Dylan, LHASA, Cassandra Wilson, Cesaria Evora, tango, Satie… writers and poets who can create an interesting and beautiful combination of words.
Film, digital or both: both - in this "591 exhibition" only film
Quote: "Photography is a journey of your own, the only road for a creative photographer" - Robert Frank
A favourite photograph: " Myself on Holiday", 1890 Alfred Stieglitz

Homepage: www.uivprojekt.fotosidan.se

Comments

br said…
nice work and idea. it is great to see this exhibition.
Chris said…
Great to see this Ulla! Your dedication and enthusiasm towards photography is amazing and inspirational, so glad you find time to photograph yourself too!

/Rospiggen
Anonymous said…
I agree with you Chris
good footwork by you Ulla in the streets and beaches of LA!

your name seems to fit well with that city btw
ulLA LArsson ;)
Anonymous said…
great series, I especially like the man with the dog, the man with the flowers and...well I guess I like them all!

-Rhonda
Luanna said…
Great pics, Ulla! Tranquility was the word that popped into my mind. I especially like the guy on the beach. And the chess players.

Please let us see more of your work!

/Anna
Anonymous said…
Wow! Första internationella genombrottet, Ulla!
/Kåre
Unknown said…
Thanks all of you for your words!
And thank you mr Urbano... that you want me on your blog. I´m happy!