A Hasselblad for Art

Published: 2007 - July, Culture

Ewa-Mari Johansson, is a successful Swedish fashion photographer who has worked with magazines like Vogue, Amica, Donna, Harper’s Bazar, and Elle. But when she takes out her Hasselblad “6 x 6” Ewa-Mari Johansson changes skin and becomes above all an artist. First stop in her career was New York, where she began her training as a professional photographer.

Ewa-Mari, just how important was the Big Apple for you?
“I lived in New York for seven years. After studying there, I began to work doing my first reports for daily newspapers. I also took my first photos for fashion pages, and I collaborated with a number of Swedish magazines like Dagens Nyheter. The big influence on me was my mentor Arnold Eagle. I studied with him and then was his assistant. At that stage I learned a lot, especially about how to use light. Arnold Eagle was a photographer with Time Life. He was part of Capa’s group, and in turn had been Man Ray’s assistant on some films, like ‘Dreams That Money Can’t Buy.’”

Robert Capa and Man Ray. Your New York experience brought you ( albeit indirectly ( into contact with the major figures of world photography. What lessons did you learn from these great masters?
“The ability to see fashion as an extension of art. Like me, Man Ray had a foot in both camps ( both fashion and art. Despite fashion’s commercial side, these two worlds can go hand in hand.”

How did the city of New York influence you?
“I absorbed New York almost without realizing it. For example, I notice that some of my recent works have taken the forms of Henry Moore’s sculptures, which I used to greatly admire at the MoMA.”

What was your first work in Italy?
“My first exhibit in Italy was Diaframma, a group show held in Milan in 1992 and organized by Cesare Bossi – who later invited me to take part in another exhibition in Florence in 1996, together with an Italian and a French photographer. That was a key experience. The exhibit was focused on spirituality ( it was the time of the new-age boom ( and I went to stay in a Franciscan monastery at Fiesole (Florence), to share the community life of the monks for a week. I remember on the first day the gardener tried to kick me out. He said: ‘women can’t stay here!’ In the end I entitled the monastery exhibit Brother Suns, Sister Moon. Each photograph was accompanied by a verse of a prayer.”

One of your most representative series is “Black on white”, recently shown in Milan. What do you aim to convey with painted naked bodies and the symbolic black strokes?
“This work came into being from collaboration with the Swedish painter Anders Örnberg: the idea was to represent the principles of the feminine and the masculine that are simultaneously inside us. Moreover, I wanted to allude in some way to the painting of ancient Rome and represent the strength of women.”

Will you continue to work with Örnberg?
“No, I won’t follow up this work for problems, let’s say… of temperament. But I will continue to work with body-painting.”

The “Più Nudo” exhibit has also been a notable success in Milan, Bergamo and Sweden.
“‘Più Nudo’ is especially important to me: these photographs are distinct for a body language that is based on the power of details and recalls geometric symbols.”

What kind of camera do you use?
“I use a square-format Hasselblad, with 6 x 6 centimeter negatives. This camera is part of me ( my backbone. I only use digital cameras for commercial work, whereas for art shows I only use analogical technology.”

What are your upcoming projects?
“At present I’m working on a photographic show on the Masai in Kenya. Thanks to a special permit I managed to enter an area not frequented by tourists. It was a very exciting experience despite the difficulties. The people there were not used to being photographed and my particularly noisy Hasselblad frightened them. I couldn’t take more than one or two photographs per person! However, I eventually managed to take over 1,500 photographs. Now I’m working in the darkroom to select forty which will then go on show at the FNAC. These are particularly meaningful black and white photos and show up the light-colored jewels worn by the tribe.”

Has Venice ever featured in your work?
“No, I’ve never worked in Venice, but I really would like to photograph the city and even have an exhibition here. This could be done in the project called ‘Out of Time’ in which I present details of a number of cities: Berlin, New York, Paris… and perhaps also Venice. I also have an idea about using the night lighting in Venice, with the corners you see and don’t see, for some nude shots.”