Features
Featured New Artist: Lars Lindqvist
Lars is based in Stockholm, Sweden and has been a member of Kontinent, a Swedish photojournalist agency since 2008. He loves to tell his own story through photography, “I like to do kind of straight on shots. Not too complicated.”
He started off shooting snowboarding and skateboarding. After school he left Sweden and went traveling for about four years. “I didn’t shoot so much during my trips, but I did get enough nice shots to get a summer job at the local newspaper from my small hometown.” That was about three years ago. After that he got a one-year contract with the biggest morning paper in Sweden, Dagens Nyheter. There he shot some big story’s and got nominated for numerous national as well as international awards.
These images are a story about gun control in Finland. There is nearly one handgun for every two Finns. Only the US and Yemen have more guns in proportion. The liberal Finnish gun laws means that it isn’t impossible to acquire an AK-47, a weapon of war, if there is a valid reason for obtaining the license at the local police station.
“Like so many other people I’ve always had some sort of fascination with guns. You know when you were a kid and almost didn’t dare to look at the police officer’s gun. Or the first time you pointed a toy gun at somebody. It’s such a loaded subject, everybody has their own opinion about guns. But I think few people would disagree when I say there is something magical about these pieces of metal.”
“What made me go to Finland was the urge to finding answers to my questions: Why does anyone in this world want to own a tool whose only purpose is to harm other people? What’s my own fascination with guns all about? Who are these people that have guns? My head was spinning with questions.”
Web: http://www.larslindqvist.com
Lars Lindqvist is this week’s Featured New Artist from our friends at Aurora Photos. Aurora’s staff regularly seeks out new, up and coming photographers to highlight on abouttheimage.com. We hope our readers will enjoy learning about these young pro-photographers and seeing examples of their outstanding work. Photographers who would like to be considered for publication as a Featured New Artist can submit their resume and portfolio by email to fna [at] abouttheimage.com.
Posted in: Featured New Artists, Features, Interviews, Photographers
Comments(1)
post a comment »Curtis Copeland, March 23, 2009 [#]
Nice work Lars! I like your photographic style. You really “shoot” well…