Through the Lens of Imagination – Unveiling Living Tales at Fotografiska

The exhibition "Places Beyond" with Erik Johansson (2019) was the first time Fotografiska worked with Big Image. Photo: Cecilia Ramström

At Fotografiska, each exhibition shapes its own unique story, all to capture the artist's or photographer's vision. In Big Image, they’ve found a company that shares the same philosophy. “I believe we are united by the curiosity to always create something new, something more impactful, and something we have never tried before“, says Lisa Giomar Hydén, Director of Exhibitions at Fotografiska.

"In Bloom" (spring 2023) was a group exhibition featuring several different artists in various installations. Big Image helped with premium printed fabric and wall foilings. Additionally, the elevator was covered with motifs from the exhibition. Photo: Jenny Hammar/Fotografiska

Lisa Giomar Hydén is responsible for the exhibitions, which they often create from scratch in close collaboration with the artist or photographer. The first time she came in contact with Big Image was in 2019, for the exhibition “Places Beyond“,  where they wanted to try something entirely new.

Every place has its unique challenges

The vision was to create a theatrical stage to highlight Johansson's photographic works within the various installations in the room. But since Fotografiska has completely different conditions than a theater, there was much to consider, especially regarding lighting. Since fabric was a relatively new material for them to work with, the process began with a visit to the Big Image studio.

We started by looking at a lot of materials to understand the possibilities. We experimented - how can we display the same motif on both sides of the fabric? Ultimately, it‘s all about having a vision that you help us translate.

From folded aluminum to a creative solution for showcasing old original photographs

Often, the work involves covering the walls with text, color, and images to create a good frame for the exhibition. But sometimes, the exhibition requires more creative solutions. Like for "Andy Warhol Photo Factory" when Fotografiska wanted to cover the walls with folded aluminum sheets to recreate the feeling of Warhol's studio. Or for "News Flash! A Century of News" the same year when they wanted to create the illusion of a darkroom and needed a solution to display old original photographs in the form of glass plates.

The photographs couldn't be too prominent; they should feel like they were sneaking up on us from history. Moreover, the glass plates were very fragile - some as old as from the 1800s - and all of them were different sizes and thicknesses, so there was much to consider. In the end, Big Image came up with the solution to create a large lightbox.

Where the photographs would be placed, the fabric was white, but everything else was printed in black to block out the light. The delicate glass plates were then placed in specially tailored plastic pockets, each measured by hand. The result exceeded expectations.

Infinite extension with the help of mirrors

For the exhibition "The Changing Room" with Tobias Gremmler, the vision was to create an infinite extension of the room, and mirrors were therefore essential to find the right expression. An unexpected challenge at the time was finding mirrors that didn't give the feeling of a funhouse. Thanks to Big Image's extensive network, Fotografiska eventually found mirrors of the high quality they desired.

It made all the difference for the entire experience that we found the right fabric and material.

Since then, the mirrors have been used in several different exhibitions, aligning with both companies' sustainability perspectives.

In the fall of 2023, it was time for another exhibition with Erik Johansson, "The Echo Chamber," where the vision was to allow visitors to step into Erik Johansson's world of images and become a part of the works themselves. For that, Big Image produced, among other things, a lightbox image with a day-to-night effect.

Translating visions, that's something you're good at. Helping, being available, and having a personal dialogue where you feel that you are engaged in making it as good as possible.

For the exhibition Erik Johansson “The Echo Chamber" (fall 2023), Big Image produced a Day-to-night image with an LED light wall behind it. In front of the lightbox, the image continues in the form of cobblestones on a carpet covering the floor. Photo: Fotografiska.

In the exhibition "The Changing Room" with Tobias Gremmler (spring 2022), mirrors create an infinite extension of the room. Big Image assisted with the installation of the mirrors and projections. Photo: Filip Ramström.