The Hasselblad Foundation stipend for nature photography has been awarded every two years since 2008 and, keeping in mind Victor Hasselblad’s interest in nature, aims to encourage the development of nature photography in the Nordic region and support photographic examinations of nature, landscapes and the environment. The stipend amount is SEK 100,000.
Application closed 2024
Ivar Hagren and Weronika Bela Awarded Nature Photography Scholarship of 100,000 SEK
Behind the Silver Veil explores the environmental impact of photography by focusing on the defunct Agfa/Orwo factory in Wolfen. Rumours suggest the existence of a “Silver Lake” in the area where the factory allegedly dumped waste, contaminating the water to the extent that film can be developed in it. However, Hagren and Bela’s research revealed that it is an abandoned mine containing various chemicals that affect the city’s groundwater.
The artists collect 40-year-old Orwo paper and develop it without light, creating latent traces of the paper’s memory. They also experiment with making “silver lakes” by spreading developer fluid over the paper, resulting in abstract landscape images. The project includes drawings that reflect on mechanical versus handmade processes and the unpredictability of old photo paper compared to the precision of factory production.
The artists will participate in Futures-Photography in 2024 with this project and plan a publication and exhibition in 2026.
Behind the Silver Veil combines photography, drawing, and installation to offer new perspectives on the environmental impact of photography and the human footprint on nature.
Sara Linderoth
Trace, trace
In Sara Linderoth’s project Trace, trace she explores how the effects of the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986 continue to impact large parts of Uppsala County, Gävleborg, Västmanland, Västernorrland, and Västerbotten.
The disaster has influenced reindeer husbandry, and the Swedish wild boar population, which has started establishing itself in the affected areas, has high caesium levels. The effects and experiences of the Chernobyl disaster are now highly relevant in the debate on nuclear power as a solution to the climate crisis. The time perspective and cross-border responsibility that come with nuclear power have also been highlighted by the war in Ukraine, where Chernobyl has become relevant again.
From the series Trace, trace Sara Linderoth explores three different tracks of the Chernobyl disaster with three different photographic methods:
Jury’s Motivation
The project contains an interesting combination of photographic practices, visually based investigations, and ambition to problematise and communicate: photographic documentation and visually based photojournalism; chemical experiments and camera-less photography based on the direct imprint of nature and radiation; archival studies related to personal and collective memory; visual communication and scientific documentation.
The project has a locally rooted basis in one of Sweden’s important natural areas. However, the subject is global in today’s perspective of transitioning towards a fossil-free lifestyle. Photography has an established ability to be part of complex narratives about our contemporary times and their relationship to history and the future. Nuclear power and its complex role in our modern society is central to today’s public debate, and the project is an example of the importance of understanding its benefits and risks.
Linderoth is educated at Konstfack in Stockholm and has since worked as a photojournalist and freelance photographer. She is now employed as a visual communicator at the County Administrative Board of Uppsala, responsible for the authority’s use of photographic images.
The jury consisted of Tyrone Martinsson, Louise Wolthers, Cecilia Sandblom, and Stefan Jensen.
Hasselblad Foundation stipend for nature photography 2020
Nature, landscape & environment
The Ash Project: Emanuel Cederqvist
The Hasselblad Foundation is pleased to announce that Emanuel Cederqvist has been awarded the 2020 stipend for nature photography.
The Ash Project is a collaboration between photographers Emanuel Cederqvist and Sean Gardiner who, in a modest and aesthetically appealing visual dialogue, document ash tree dieback in Europe. The condition is currently present in the entire range of ash habitats, from northern Sweden to southern Tuscany, and is caused by an invasive fungus that threatens the very existence of the species.
Gardiner and Cederqvist use a site-specific, comparative and archival methodology and the project visualises the disease’s spread: Cederqvist photographs trees with early symptoms on Öland, Sweden, while Gardiner photographs trees in Dorset, England, where the disease is not yet visible. Their focus on this critical time for the ash, which also has significant mythological importance, further reflects major environmental issues including the loss of biodiversity.
In a unique way, Cederqvist and Gardiner maintain and update the tradition of environmentally engaged photography in the footsteps of photographers such as Robert Adams.
The jury deciding this year’s stipend winner was:
Tyrone Martinsson: Professor of Film, Photo, Literary Composition at HDK-Valand – University of Gothenburg
Cecilia Sandblom: photographer and conservator, Hasselblad Foundation
Louise Wolthers: researcher and curator, Hasselblad Foundation
Hasselblad Foundation stipend for nature photography 2018
Nature, landscape & environment
Luleälven: Om dammen brister
Mia Rogersdotter Olofsson
The Hasselblad Foundation is pleased to announce that Mia Rogersdotter Olofsson has been awarded the 2018 stipend for nature photography.
Mia Rogersdotter Olofsson’s project Luleälven: Om dammen brister (The Lule River: If the Dam Bursts) aims to be a portrait of the Lule River in the form of an investigation of a natural resource, a geographic area and a historical account of what the river valley looks like today. Mia Rogersdotter Olofsson wants to follow the river from its beginning in Sulitelma in Arjeplog to its catchment area in the Gulf of Bothnia and collect photographic material on foot and by boat. She will document the entire 461 km of the river, including Europe’s longest dry river bed of 17 km. Mia Rogersdotter Olofsson grew up in Luleå and already has a wealth of knowledge of the area. She is also a skilled photographer with a good eye for narratives in both natural and cultural landscapes.
Mia will do research and meet interest groups for the future survival of the river in Jokkmokk, and then proceed to photograph during the summer of 2018. The work will result in a book and/or an exhibition. The idea is to also present the project in different places along the river’s course.
“With this grant we want to support an interesting project and encourage a young photographer to continue her involvement in environmental issues and landscape photography”, says Louise Wolthers, head of research at the Hasselblad Foundation.
The jury deciding this year’s stipend winner was:
Tyrone Martinsson: Professor of Film, Photo, Literary Composition at HDK-Valand – University of Gothenburg
Cecilia Sandblom: photographer and conservator, Hasselblad Foundation
Louise Wolthers: researcher and curator, Hasselblad Foundation
David Arnar Runólfsson 2016 fellowship in nature photography
The Hasselblad Foundation is pleased to announce that David Arnar Runólfsson has been awarded the Foundation’s 2016 fellowship in nature photography.
The general purpose of the stipend, recalling Victor Hasselblad’s interest in the subject, is to encourage nature photography in the Nordic region.
David Arnar Runólfsson applied with a project investigating the serious environmental impact of the Kárahnjúkar dam in Iceland. Through various methods of photographic documentation, archival research, and interviews with scientists and journalists, David Arnar Runólfsson will be conveying the irreversible effects on the environment and local ecosystems in a publication. Other dam projects around the world have similar effects, and as the artist states: “I believe it’s very important that we learn from this project and consider carefully before sacrificing more wilderness areas under water.”
David Arnar Runólfsson is currently finishing an MFA in photography at Valand Academy.
Members of the committee were Katarina Gårdfeldt, Dean at the Centre for Environment and Sustainability, GMV, at Chalmers and University of Gothenburg; Tyrone Martinsson, Senior Lecturer at Valand Academy, University of Gothenburg; Cecilia Sandblom, photographer at the Hasselblad Foundation, and Louise Wolthers, Research Manager at the Hasselblad Foundation.