Cocktails & Conversations: Vanni x Alexander
Welcome to an evening where photography will be a way into stories on where we belong - and why we sometimes want to leave.
What does it mean to come from a place - and to leave it? Photographs can capture memories, dreams and collisions between different worlds. Vanni Jung Ståhle and Alexander Mahmoud meet in an open and personal conversation about Småland, class, alienation and the image of the countryside.
During the evening you will get a guided tour of Vanni's exhibition and a deep dive into Alexander Mahmoud's new book Mellan rummen, which is also available for purchase.
Vanni Jung Ståhle and Alexander Mahmoud were both born in Småland in the 90s, longed to leave, ended up in Stockholm and became freelance photographers. Now they meet in a conversation about class, alienation, and the image of the countryside - and why you always end up on a sofa at home parties.
Ahead of the 2014 general election, Alexander returned to portray the Sweden Democrats' strong support in the school elections in Alvesta, but soon realized that he had repressed the racism he had grown up with. It became a reportage, a book and an exhibition about never really being able to leave your past.
For Vanni, the return was about giving the world a new look at Småland. Her photography questions the romanticization of the countryside and gives way to a more nuanced story - one that makes visible where she comes from, in an artistic context.
ABOUT ALEXANDER MAHMOUD
Alexander Mahmoud is an award-winning photographer and reporter at Dagens Nyheter, known for his intimate and honest storytelling. With an eye for the human and an ability to capture the invisible, he has portrayed everything from migration and exclusion to the poetic moments of everyday life. His background informs his work, which often returns to themes of identity, class and heritage. Mahmoud's reportage has resulted in both exhibitions and the acclaimed book Between Rooms, a story about not being able - or willing - to leave your history behind.
ABOUT VANNI JUNG STÅHLE
Vanni Jung Ståhle is currently showing the exhibition The Kings of Blomstermåla at Fotografiska. With equal parts humor and seriousness, she depicts the lives of those who stayed in her childhood village when many others chose to leave it.The exhibition is part of Fotografiska Stockholm's Emerging Artists series, a platform for young, Sweden-based photographers who are moving forward by leaps and bounds and who showcase their everyday lives with a unique visual language.