Artist Statement
In the series Boy Stories (2006-2012) Johan Willner travels back in time, to a place where something happened, to a moment that he has carried with him. The photographs depict memories from his childhood. As with all of us, memories are reshaped and colored by time and yet their origins remain constant. Willner’s highly detailed photographs depict cinematic scenes based on his memories, dreams, perceptions, and illusions.
Process Statement
"My work began with a single image, a memory. It was probably the strongest image I have ever envisioned, and I wanted to try to take a photograph of it.
For many years, I have been on a quest for images. I have photographed people, cultures, landscapes, and religions. I have tried to express myself through others. But, this image I have carried with me.
In my mind’s eye, I see a boy. He sits in a car and his head is bleeding. His classmates surround the car and glare at him, mocking him. I remember that he did not cry, that he never lost face. "- Johan Willner
Johan Willner (1971 in Stockholm) lives and works in Sweden. He studied photography and art in Stockholm and New York, and in 2006 earned a MFA from the University College of Arts, Craft and Design in Stockholm, and attended the documentary photography program at the International Centre of Photography in New York 1995-96.
Johan started out at Magnum Photos as a darkroom printer in the mid-nineties. Johan works with both documentary and staged photography, and allows the subject or the concept to derermine the technique.
His work has been shown extensively in solo and group exhibitions thoughout Europe and in America. Johan has completed the series Boy Stories, which will be shown for the first time at Fotografiska (The museum of Photography) in Stockholm from October 5 to November 18, 2012.
