Gunnar Sundgren

1901–1970.

Photographer.

Gunnar Sundgren grew up in a sibling group of nine children at a small railway station between Sala and Gävle. 

Sundgren joined H.A.L. (Cathedral School) in Uppsala in 1913 and was boarded up in a school household at Maria Lindgren's bakery on Skolgatan 13.

As a 21-year-old, Sundgren became a student of Ellen Claeson, the leading photographer in Uppsala. In 1928 he opened a portrait studio at Östra Ågatan 29 and became one of Uppsala's foremost photographers during the 1940s–1950s.

The portrait pictures were made after personality studies and Sundgren also produced significant environmental and architectural images.  In the studio several famous people passed through, such as Hugo Alfvén, Bror Hjort, Cora Sandel, Gösta Knutsson, Axel Hägerström, The Svedberg and Bo Setterlind.

Upplandsmuseet Manages approximately 300 000 negatives from Sundgren's production.  He appeared on radio as a strong agitator for photography as an art form.

During the 1950s, Gunnar Sundgren held tours of the old cemetery in Uppsala. At his grave there is a metal sculpture "Mother and Child" by an unknown artist.

Gunnar Sundgren's preserved photographs are a remarkable cultural and historical treasure.

 

Burial site: 0150-1988

Image description: Gunnar Sundgren, unknown year. Photo: Gunnar Sundgren / Upplandsmuseet. [The image is cropped]
Click here for an uncropped image

 

🔊 Click to listen (in Swedish)