591 Exhibition - Chris Maluszynski






Sisters
How do you live life by the medieval convent rule in the 21st century? And who makes the choice to live like this? To get the answers, Chris Maluszynski had to earn the 11 Brigittine sisters' trust to enter the convent of Saint Birgitta in Vadstena, Sweden, where he then spent two years documenting everyday life.

Saint Birgitta was a remarkable strong and influential woman in Sweden 700 years ago. She is Sweden's only saint and the founder of the Birgittine order which today is separated into different branches, with only a few convents still following the medieval rule, one of these being the original one in Vadstena.



I am glad to host this selection from Chris Maluszynski's work on 591 Photography Gallery. The pictures of the Brigittine sisters have been with me ever since the book "Sisters" was published in 2003. The book has around 60 photos with comments by Mother Karin, abbess of the convent. It is divided in two chapters, the first is about the everyday life of the sisters, the second about their journey to Rome where they initiated the celebration of the 700th anniversary of the birth of Saint Birgitta (2003). It is a beautiful book, try to get it.

When I was setting up this exhibition looking at each picture carefully, it struck me that they left me with a feeling of joy. I know that Chris have said something similar about his stay with the Sisters.




Chris Maluszynski
Chris was born 1975 in Warsaw, Poland and moved to Sweden when he was seven years old. He began his professional career in 1995 and has worked for most major Swedish newspapers. He has been awarded numerous prizes in photography including first places in the Swedish Picture of The Year Award in 1999, 2001 and 2003.

You have seen pictures from Detroit on 591 by Chris and also an introduction to his series Mardi Gras, New Orleans. He has been working in USA a lot in recent years and created many memorable series. See for instance this article from Verve Photo - a new breed of Documentary photographers, about his work in US.
Chris Maluszynski's work can be found on MOMENT - a colletively owned agency for photojournalism.

Exhibition ended May 2, 2009 but now it is back!












Comments

Rhonda Boocock said…
What a beautiful series Chris...so personal!
Mikael said…
Impressive work, they grow each time I have a look on them, will most certainly return many times to them
Anonymous said…
excellent fotos with respect and humor...what could be better!
bea
Oskarp Mask said…
Congratulations to all viewers on finally being able to see Chris' magnificent story!