Om han var consists of portraits of young men that I met on city streets between 2015 and 2017. At the same time I picked up A4-paper that I found on sidewalks, community billboards and walls of the public realm. Gluing and pressing the papers together, I crafted double sided sheets on which I then printed the portraits.

I met these young men in several different cities and countries, but what they all had in common was that they were walking or hanging out by themselves. (The title ”Om han var” literally translates to ”If he was”). Photography became a tool to investigate the borders between me and these men, but also the intimate space that suddenly appeared around us.

It seems like this kind of planless photographic wandering is reflected in the subjects’ demeanor, an aimlessness, increasingly rare in the city. 

Whole edition handbound by Erik Viklund.

500 copies printed by Göteborgstryckeriet 2018

Graphic design by Heikki Kaski.

Released by Lihalaidun.

Produced with support from the Swedish Arts Grants Committee.

Awarded Swedish Book Design Award 2018.

Distributed by Idea Books.

Contact lihalaidun@gmail.com or Konst-ig Shop in Stockholm.

Text about Om han var in the online magazine VERK by Kirstine Autzen; https://www.verktidskrift.se/fotografiet-er-et-transportabelt-medie-fotografiet-transporterer