10 October - 17 November 2006 ã.
Photo exhibition of Thomas Wagstrom — Boxers — Moment Zero — The Inner Side of Earnest open 10 okt 2006 in National Centre of Photography of the Russian Federation. In the framework of SwedKult — Swedish Culture Days, National Centre of Photography will host an exhibition of Swedish photographer, Thomas Wagstrom. A workshop in photography will be arranged in St. Petersburg, along with the exhibition, a workshop in photography will be arranged.
Thomas Wågström works as freelance-photographer and since 1984 as a teacher and workshop-leader at ordens fotoskola in Stockholm, the same academy where he got his education as a photographer. His photographic projects have been exhibited in various forms, as books, exhibitions and still-films for the Swedish television.
Who are You, who am I? Shall I take care of my brother? Those are the words of the Swedish poet Marie Lundquist, quoted from Wågströms book «The Inner Side of Earnest» (1994). For two years he followed a unit from the Swedish special forces during their education and was amazed by the almost ritual form of gravity in which they tackled their difficult trials.
In his project «Boxers» (2000), Wågström continued to investigate the question of male identity. His photographs of boxers describe the conditions of contemplation and an inner struggle, rather than the real fight that takes place in the boxing ring. He is interested in the introspective expression, a sort of state of emergency of the soul, which he considers as the essence of boxing.
«The Zero Moment» is like a dream sequence, a borderland between wake and sleep where different kind of fears and mental obsessions becomes visible.
Wågströms photographs are a personal reflection on conditions such as vulnerability, obsession and fear and have a narrative character, combining an artistic expression with a documentary story.
