From the early 1960s to the mid-1970s, Larsåke “The Shadow” Thuresson photographed over 100 international and 200 Swedish musical artists and groups. For several decades the material was packed away in boxes until finally, under pressure from his daughters, he decided to do something with it. The result was the book Icons, published in 2015.
The exhibition of the same title presents a selection of the 65,000 images found in his archive. They are all here: troubadours, rock artists, international and Swedish pop idols, pop stars and ABBA. We meet the great celebrities like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Cher, Janis Joplin, Birgit Nilsson, Cornelis Vreeswijk, Ted Gärdestad and The Rolling Stones.
The images are permeated by an unpretentious gaze, an almost childlike curiosity and a surprising closeness to the actors. You can really feel is Larsåke’s love for music and its performers. He is, and was, obviously a friend to those who ended up in front of his lens.
Exhibited side by side, they also show how the world of artists has changed from the 1960s to today. Many of the motifs move in a private and everyday sphere that is hardly possible for today’s photographers to access. We meet Bob Dylan on a stroll in Råsunda, Agneta and Björn from ABBA performing in front of the camera in their own home, Cher and Sonny on a shopping spree and Cornelis Vreeswijk with Lars Forsell, a member of the Swedish Academy, at the restaurant Den Gyldene Freden.
Some of the images have been previously published in the press and as album covers, but most have been virtually unknown to the public. In addition to photos, the exhibition also includes period posters, LPs and magazines.
The exhibition is produced by Dunkers Kulturhus in Helsingborg.
Opens on 16 June
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