SUNE JONSSON
HASSE PERSSON
MATHIAS JOHANSSON
Three Generations of Black and White Photography
22.2 – 22.3 2025
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The history of Swedish photography has been shaped by a number of prominent photographers who have documented and interpreted their time through photojournalism, documentary photography, and artistic portraiture. GSA Gallery is pleased to present a unique group exhibition where three generations of black and white photography meet—through the works of Sune Jonsson, Hasse Persson, and Mathias Johansson.
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Sune Jonsson (1930–2009), photographer, filmmaker, and writer, spent nearly his entire life working in Västerbotten. His extensive photographic archive includes everything from author portraits and meadows to local documentation and images of agricultural life. Although his camera took him to places such as the Congo, New York, Prague, Bornholm, and Canada, the core of his work remained unchanged: portraying the individual—especially in the rural landscapes of Västerbotten. There were enough stories to tell in his own homeland, just as his ideological rolemodel, author Ivar Lo-Johansson, had advocated. An artist best depicts the place he knows best, Lo-Johansson said—an idea that Sune Jonsson consistently followed throughout his life’s work.
Jonsson received several prestigious awards, including the Hasselblad Award (1993) and De Nios Prize (1972). In 2001, he was named an honorary doctor at Umeå University’s Faculty of Humanities. His works have been exhibited at several prominent institutions, including Moderna Museet, Västerbotten museum and Fotografiska in Stockholm.
Hasse Persson, born in 1942 in Borås, is one of Sweden’s most respected photographers and has played a significant role in Swedish photography, both as an artist and as an artistic director at several institutions. Between 1967 and 1990, he worked as a photojournalist in the United States, documenting many of the events and social phenomena that shaped the country’s politics. His work captured protests against the Vietnam War, presidential campaigns, and issues of racism and extremism, including the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. His iconic images of New York’s nightlife in the 1970s have become part of photographic history. Photographing inside the legendary club Studio 54 was a challenge—dark, crowded, and intense. Persson used a long-exposure technique, creating an effect reminiscent of painting with light.
Hasse Persson has held several prominent leadership positions in the art world. He served for many years as the artistic director of the Hasselblad Center before becoming the director of the Borås Art Museum and playing a key role in establishing Borås as a city of sculpture. He has received numerous prestigious awards, including the Documentary Photography Award from the Arbetets museum (2006), The King’s Medal for “distinguished contributions as a photographer” (2011), and the Västra Götaland Grand Cultural Prize (2020).
Mathias Johansson, born in 1961 in Stugun and now based in Stockholm, is a Swedish photographer with a special affinity for people with stories to share—particularly those with long life experience.
During a visit to New York in 1995, he looked up the phone number of artist Louise Bourgeois in the telephone directory. To his surprise, she answered immediately and invited him to her home in Chelsea. That meeting led to two afternoons filled with conversations about art and life. When Johansson returned in 1998 for an assignment for Dagens Nyheter, he was also given the opportunity to photograph her. His portraits and images from her Brooklyn studio are now part of several collections, including those of Moderna Museet, Louisiana, and Hauser & Wirth Zürich.
Over the years, Johansson has contributed to numerous book projects for artists such as Thomas Schütte, Isa Genzken, and Mark Manders. With an eye for detail and a dedication to capturing authenticity, he creates images that resonate and leave a lasting impression—whether in portraiture, architecture, or commercial photography.
