JH Engstrm: Sketch of Paris

(Paperback)

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Description

For more than 20 years, Swedish photographer JH Engstrm (born 1969) has spent time living and working in Paris, a city that, like New York, has a long photographic pedigree; countless photographers have been inspired by its iconic architecture and busy streets. "Sketch of Paris," however, is hardly a catalog of classic Parisian scenes, offering instead a raw yet lyrical portrayal of the artist's misadventures, loves and random encounters in its streets, bars and artist lofts--an entirely personal Paris. Drawing more from Nan Goldin and Anders Peters than Atget or Henri Cartier-Bresson, Engstrm brings us on a gritty, no-holds-barred guided tour of life in his adopted city. The book brings together more than 250 color and black-and-white photographs--self-portraits, nudes, portraits of lovers, friends, strangers and the occasional street scene--all shot between 1991 and 2012, tracing a critical time during the development of the artist's own voice and vision.

Reviews

Twenty years of photos taken in Paris and, thankfully, nary a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower. Engstrom's photos are more about the unseen Paris. Scary, tough, smoking-cigarettes-and-partying-hard Paris. This book is a sensory overload of full-bleed photos, mixing black and white with color effortlessly. It's a diary of a life lived very, very . . . interestingly.--Amy Kellner"The New York Times Magazine" (12/19/2013)
SKETCH OF PARIS...offers a refreshingly diverse perspective on a well-trodden subject.--Daisy Woodward"Another Magazine" (10/07/2013)
Collected from the bars, streets, and homes Engstrm frequented, the end result is an intensely intimate, raw, and expressive document and portrait of past loves, adventures, and characters adrift in an ever-shifting cityscape--Colleen Kelsey"Interview" (08/13/2013)

Author Bio

JH Engstrm spent the early portion of his life and photography career between Sweden and France. After assisting Mario Testino in Paris and Anders Petersen in Stockholm, he received his formal education from Gothenburg University in Gothenburg, Sweden, graduating in 1997. Engstrm has produced several photobooks, including Trying to Dance (2004), Haunts (2006), CDG/JHE (2008), From Back Home (with Anders Petersen, 2009) and La Rsidence (2009). Engstrm is the recipient of grants from such institutes as the Swedish Art Council, the Swedish Authors Foundation, and the Hasselblad Center. In 2005, he was shortlisted for the Deutsche Brse Photography Prize for his book Trying to Dance. He is represented by Galerie VU, Paris, and by GUN Gallery, Stockholm.