Street photography in Väseterås-book

Street photography 

Lars of Sweden

Lars Hedberg’s photography from Västerås, Sweden.

Street photography is a classic photographical style. Lars Hedberg, or Lars of Sweden as he is also known, is a multifaceted photographer who follows in this tradition. Lars is a photographer that wanders around towns, capturing people and environments with his lens. His photos contain atmospheres difficult to describe in words – moments that remain frozen beyond their time. It may sound easy, even banal. Theoretically, anyone can be a photographer now with mobile phones´ increasing capabilities. There is a difference between image and image. Lars Hedberg belongs to that rare breed of photographer that transmits atmosphere, He sees, and allows the viewer to see what they previously did not. He has a knack for being in the right place when big things happen. He sees the image, never arranging the scene, just being there to capture the moment.

Lars Hedberg has wandered across many countries with his camera. But, this book is about Västerås, the town he has lived in since the 1950’s. Lars and I grew up in the same town during the same time. I remember the old photo books from the 1950s and 1960s, with images in black and white from Västerås. I received one of these book in 1957 when I graduated from fourth grade. It contained images of the students, stylish compositions featuring cranes at the port, sailboats and people swimming in the lake at Östra Holmen. Åke V. Larsson and Lena Böklin were the photographers for those books.

Lars Hedberg works within this same tradition. But he presents his Västerås, a modern and multi-cultural town. Yet, we recognize the inhabitants, they are all Västerås-natives even if they don a turban while riding a moped through Vasaparken, or are found sunbathing at Östra hamnen with silos as a backdrop. They are all Västeråsians – as they sit at cafés– dance on Djäkneberget – buy sausages – glide by in stylish American cars. They are in constant motion in the town centre, and in its outskirts. Lars Hedberg has been capturing the soul of this town for almost a decade, from 2013 until 2022.

More than once, the street photographers Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Doisneau, André Kertész and Christer Strömholm are brought to mind. They share an ability to feel the emotion of a moment, and the ability to unite form and content. Lars Hedberg is an artist, a photographer who dances tango and sings songs. He has released several cd’s, and is considered one of Sweden’s foremost interpreters of Bellman’s (18th century Swedish poet and artist) work.

In this book he is interpreting Västerås.

Anders Lif,  

Journalist and author.