Curriculum Vitae
 

1918 Born on July 22, in Stockholm.
1924 After his parents’ divorce, Christer divides his time between two families. His father is in the armed forces and stationed in various parts of the country, so the young Christer leads a wandering life.
1934 His father commits suicide after a serious riding accident has left him with a permanent headache.
1937 Moves to Dresden to study art under professor Waldemar Winkler. They clash about Paul Klee and other forbidden artists from Bauhaus. Christer soon leaves Dresden, moving to Paris.
1938 Seeks out his old teacher, Swedish artist Dick Beer, visiting him in Arles. Returns to Sweden to study painting under Otte Sköld and Isaac Grünewald, in Stockholm.
1939 Completes his military service with an antitank regiment.
1940 Volunteers to fight the Russians in the Russo-Finnish War.
1940-45 Joins a Swedish volunteer corps to fight the Germans in Norway. Later works for the Norwegian resistance in Stockholm.
1946-56 Moves to Paris and enrols at the Arts Academy. Discovers the large-format camera and realises that the photographic image offers the sort of possibilities for expression that he has wished for and sought. Does a series of artist portraits and his own, very individual images. Also studies at the arts academies of Florence and Faenza, in Italy. Adopts the nom d’artiste Christer Christian.
1949-54 Joins the German Fotoform group for “subjective photography”, led by Otto Steinert. Participates in exhibitions with other members of Fotoform, in Europe and America.
1954-64 Work theme: Pictures of Death.
1956 With Peter Weiss, makes Ansikten i skugga (“Faces in Shadow”), a 16mm documentary about regulars at beer houses in Stockholm’s Old Town. Starts teaching photography at Kursverksamheten, the non-departmental courses programme at Stockholm University.
1956-64 Gets to know and photographs transsexuals in the area of Place Blanche in Paris. Sets down his own principles about the photographic image, coining terms such as “existing light”, “exposure moment” and “personal responsibility” regarding the content and use of his pictures.
1958 Buys a house in Fox-Amphoux, in Provence.
1959-63 Travels to Spain, Japan, India, America and Africa.
1962-74 Director of Fotoskolan in Stockholm. With Tor-Ivan Odulf, who runs Dokumentärfilmskolan, he trains over 1 200 students. Many go on to become leading Scandinavian photographers: Anders Petersen, Dawid, Bille August, Gunnar Smoliansky among others.
1964-74 Work theme: Reality.
1974-82 Work theme: Private Pictures.
1976-77 Makes large-format polaroid pictures with surrealist content.
1982-93 Work theme: Signs and Traces.
1984 Anders Birkeland makes Till minnet av mig själv (“Myself in Memoriam”), a documentary about Strömholm.
1990-93 His son, Joakim, makes a portrait of him for television, Blunda och se (“Close your eyes and see”). Swedish television broadcasts it three times during 1996.
1993 The Swedish government makes him professor of photography.
1993-96 Work theme: Golgotha.
1993-97 Completes his book, Kloka ord (“Wise Words”), a collection of aphorisms and work notes.
1998 Receives the international Hasselblad award for 1997.
1999- 2000 Plans and begins the book, I befintligt ljus – ett fotografiskt testamente (“In existing light – a photographic testament”).
2001 Continues work on “In existing light – a photographic testament”).
2002 Dies on January 11 after a prolonged period of illness.