Photos by Leibovitz, Nilsson open Sweden's new photo museum (Feature)

By Lennart Simonsson May 21, 2010, 15:06 GMT

Stockholm - Iconic photos by legendary photographers Annie Leibovitz of the United States and Sweden's Lennart Nilsson form two of the inaugural exhibitions at Stockholm's new photography museum, Fotografiska, which opened Friday.

Leibovitz's collection 'A Photographer's Life 1990-2005' combines some of her most famous portraits of celebrities - which have graced the covers and inside pages of magazines like Vanity Fair or Vogue - with numerous private photos, mainly in black-and-white, of her family and personal life.

'It is a very intimate kind of show,' Leibovitz said on the eve of the opening, adding that she planned to 'take the show home' after likely showing it in China and Russia. The exhibit in Stockholm closes September 12.

The show was put together as Leibovitz was coming to terms with the deaths of her father and partner, writer Susan Sontag, she said.

'I think of myself as an artist using photography,' she said, noting how digital cameras and mobile phones with built-in cameras have made photography accessible to many people and could be compared to using a pen or pencil.

'We all see differently,' she said about photography. 'There is room for it all, that is what is so wonderful.'

The section on Nilsson is devoted to his unique images of the human embryo's development, initially published in Life magazine in 1965. Thirty photos from the series feature in the exhibit 'A Child is Born.'

Nilsson told the German Press Agency dpa that at the end of the year he was planning a new project with researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm documenting cancer cells.

Despite having reached the ripe old age of 87, Nilsson answered emphatically, 'No, no, I don't have time,' when asked if he planned to retire.

The winner of many prizes and accolades, Nilsson has also photographed the SARS virus and the HIV virus.

Fotografiska's inaugural exhibitions also include portraits of children titled 'The Birthday Party' by Australian photographer Vee Speers, and 'Bodies' by American Joe-Peter Witkins who 'sees beauty in the grotesque' with his work that often features amputees and fetishists.

The museum offers 2,500 square metres for galleries, making it one of the world's largest museums dedicated to photography, organizers said.

In addition to exhibitions, it features a bookshop and will also offer courses and seminars for professional and amateur photographers.

The exhibitions will not be permanent and organizers plan to showcase work by leading contemporary photographers.

The 1910 brick building with its art nouveau design is situated on Stockholm's waterfront. It was previously used by the customs services, and until a few years ago was intended to house a museum dedicated to Swedish pop group ABBA.

More details can be found on: www.fotografiska.eu.