From the Swedish photographer Björn Nilsson, we feature a series titled “fArsta” focused on “the stigma of living in a suburb in Stockholm.”
Nilsson’s style is confrontational, capturing and highlighting what is usually considered taboo, ugly, or shameful. He aims to challenge the viewers with this particular series as well: “I want to reach out and diversify the image people, and actually people abroad, have about the suburbs in Stockholm.”
Nilsson does not beautify. On the contrary, he amplifies anything disturbing. The faces and bodies are not smoothed out by carefully staged shadowplay, the oversaturation of some images is almost an assault on the senses, and the red light seems to scream “stop” at the artist’s lens.
His photography is a conspicuous manifest of human mechanics and interpersonal interactions. Through a vivid, carefully honed, distinctive style and approach, the artist presents us with a masterclass in editorial-meets-conceptual photography.
His collection of striking imagery, traced at the crossroads of portrait, fine art, experimental, and minimalist art, evokes an exquisite synthesis of picturesque brutalism and fortuitous intimacy. Rock meets paper in what looks like a power struggle of survival of the fittest. By exposing his subjects to erratically alternating natural light and the flash, Nilsson succeeds in catching the viewers’ attention with the shock element and keeping them engaged through the endearing rawness.
The photobook “fArsta” will be published in 2026 alongside the dedicated exhibition, starting in Farsta, Stockholm.
Read our “Metamorphosis” issue in full
In the 3rd issue of RAWGUE., 24 visual artists and poets share a common pursuit: authenticity over perfection. The subtle art of becoming, the passage through various stages of artistic contemplation, the ever-shifting states of mind, feeling, and medium, or the act of altering reality to underline emotion or meaning – metamorphosis.
We’re a team of writers using our craft to spotlight art in its most honest form. RAWGUE. started as a bi-monthly editorial experiment where each issue’s theme is dictated by the submitted work, thus removing editorial bias from the equation and preserving a more raw approach. We focus on all forms of poetry: written, photographed, painted, drawn, and filmed.
