JH Engström

My current obsession comes from the work of JH Engström. Engström, who was born in Sweden has brought to my attention through a discussion with a tutor, and since then I have slowly been working my way through his archive of work. 

I select these photographs to show you. There were loads more I wanted to select that have more of a direct link to me but I will probably do that later! These photographs however, come from the book From Back Home, 2009. It begins with this quote from Engström

Maybe you can’t really go back home.
But this is where I’m from.
These images pay homage,
to the people and landscapes that are my origins.
I’ve returned to something my body and emotions recognize.

The images are photographed in Värmland between 2001 and 2008.

JH Engström, 2009

Staggered across the book these photographs capture this moment, you can feel sentimental values in the facial expressions, I particularly like that they are shot in black and white (the book conveys both colour and black and white) which enforces this nostalgic feeling that Engström already has and it reaches the viewers. The subjects in the photographs who are slow dancing also embrace this theme of thinking back to a earlier period in their lives within their faces.

Photographs by JH Engstrom