​Here’s looking at you curated by Hoyte van Hoytema

Here’s looking at you curated by Hoyte van Hoytema
- A unique exhibition of iconic photographs from the Hasselblad Foundation’s Collection -

On February 27^th, the photographic exhibition Here’s looking at you curated by internationally renowned cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema opens at Sven-Harry’s Art Museum.

Here’s looking at you is an exhibition at Sven-Harry’s Art Museum curated by Hoyte van Hoytema, one of the world’s foremost cinematographers. The exhibition will feature 199 photographs selected by Hoytema from the Hasselblad Foundation’s Collection.

The starting point for the exhibition is the human gaze and the intimate and dynamic relationship that builds between the viewer and the subject in view. The photographs are arranged in an order depending on whether there is eye contact or not. Thereby, a dynamic and experimental interplay is created, where the portrayed eyes alternate between confronting and avoiding the beholder. The way that Hoyte van Hoytema explores the human gaze in this exhibition at Sven-Harry’s Art Museum is meant to be experienced, not simply viewed.

– There is something dirty about staring at people in images. To maintaining painfully long eye contact with the frozen people in photo’s is like muscling yourself into their lives. Without their consent. You see, reflect and project. A connection that is so close, yet so intrusive. The person in the photo will never know of your shameless projections and prolonged eye contact. The viewer greedily takes home whatever it needs to move on in life, while the photographed person keeps radiating it’s stare into the darkness of the now closed down exhibit.", says Hoyte van Hoytema.

Thanks to his own unique cinematographic eye, Hoyte van Hoytema has received numerous Swedish and international awards such as three Guldbagge Awards, The Kodak Nordic Award for best cinematography as well as Academy and Bafta award nominations. Hoyte van Hoytema studied at the Polish National Film School i Łódź and now works in both Europe and the US. He has collaborated with directors like Christopher Nolan, Spike Jonze and Tomas Alfredson and others to make films that include The Laser Man (2005), Let the right one in (2008), The Girl (2009), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Call Girl (2012), Her (2013), Interstellar (2014), Spectre (2015) and Dunkirk (2017).

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– When the museum was granted access to the Hasselblad Foundation’s unique collection of photographs, we asked ourselves how we could best create a unique show and a whole new way to experience photography. We realized that what we were looking for was a curator who could interpret the collection in a completely new and exciting way. With this in mind, choosing Hoyte van Hoytema, a brilliant cinematographer, felt just right and we’re very happy about and grateful for his participation and contribution to the exhibition. It has been fascinating to see what happens when a cinematographer curates an exhibition of stills. To let Hoyte van Hoytema explore and select freely from the collection’s amazing visual treasury felt like an unexpected but completely natural choice for us, says Dragana Kusoffsky Maksimović, CEO of Sven-Harry’s Art Museum.

The exhibition features works from 97 photographers, among them 22 Hasselblad Award recipients such as Cindy Sherman, Irving Penn, Lennart Nilsson, Richard Avedon, Rineke Dijkstra, Wolfgang Tillmans, Nan Goldin and Graciela Iturbide. Works by Sweden’s foremost art photographers such as Lars Tunbjörk, JH Engström, Tuija Lindström, Lotta Antonsson, Anders Petersen, Christer Strömholm and Denise Grünstein are displayed right next to photographs by younger artists such as Tova Mozard, Johannes Samuelsson and Agnes Thor. The exhibition contains works from the late 19^th century till today, thereby reflecting a vital era of Swedish and international photographic history.

About the Hasselblad Foundation’s Photography Collection:

Since 1948, the Hasselblad camera has captured some of the world’s most iconic pictures and shaped how we view the world through genuine photographic artistry. In 1979, the Hasselblad Foundation was created in order to promote and support scientific education and research within the fields of natural sciences and photography. The foundation’s collection comprises works by significant Swedish and Nordic photographers as well as about 3000 photographs by Hasselblad Award recipients who’ve received the award for their outstanding photographic achievements.

Here’s looking at you
curated by Hoyte van Hoytema
Sven-Harry’s Art Museum
Feb 27^th – May 19^th, 2019