Paris will never leave our thoughts. And I don’t particularly mean last year’s terrible atrocities by religious nut-jobs or this month’s celebration of football, I’m more thinking of Paris as a holiday destination of choice.
Regardless of what you’re after, be it romantic strolls through the Marais, live paintings in Le Jardin du Luxembourg or extortionately expensive cups of tea at Hotel Costes, Paris has an almost magnetic pull that is hard to resist if you once experienced it. And that’s without even mentioning anything about the food or wine.
One Swede clearly bitten by the bug was Tore Johnson. The Swedish photographer spent a lot of time in Paris during the 50s and his poetic images of the urban environment and its inhabitants are immortalized in photo books like Secret Paris and Unknown Paris from 1952 and 1954 respectively.
Johnson’s style was the then-modern street photography, often portraying people on the fringes of society. The exhibition of Johnson’s work at Nordiska Museet is on display until September, so if you haven’t been there to experience your fix of Paris it’s time to do so.
Tore Johnson’s Images of Paris, is on display until 11 Sept.
Words: Peter Steen Christensen