Axel Lindahl
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
photographer notable for his early photography of Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
landscapes.
Lindahl was born in Mariestad
Mariestad
Mariestad is a locality and the seat of Mariestad Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 15,448 inhabitants in 2005. It was until 1997 the capital of the former Skaraborg County and an episcopal see in the Church of Sweden between 1583 and 1646....
in southwestern Sweden. With his brother Udo he opened his own photography studio in Uddevalla
Uddevalla
Uddevalla is a city and the seat of Uddevalla Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 30,513 inhabitants in 2005.It is located at the bay Byfjorden, of the south-eastern part of the sea known as Skagerrak...
in 1865; within one year, his work was exhibited in museums. By around 1867, he had moved his business to Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. Once established there, he extended his interest to landscape photography, focusing initially on the Swedish west coast, and then moving into Norway. In 1883 he sold his interest in the studio in Sweden and made Norwegian landscapes his exclusive area of business, working closely with the publisher Rich. Andvord
Rich. Andvord
Rich. Andvord AS was a Norwegian company.It was established in 1865 by Richard Andvord, who traded with pens, paper and other writing materials through an outlet near Stortorvet, Oslo. He soon expanded into a larger company, including book printing and bookbinding in the company portfolio.In later...
.
Unlike many of his contemporary photographers who emphasized the dramatic nature of Norwegian landscapes, Lindahl sought in his composition the harmonious aesthetic of his subject matter.
He remained active throughout the 19th century and left over 3500 negative plates. These were taken over by Anders Beer Wilse
Anders Beer Wilse
Anders Beer Wilse was a Norwegian photographer whose photography visually documented Norway in the early to mid-20th century....
and were passed through several owners until the Norwegian government took them over in 1991 and placed them in the archives of Norsk Folkemuseum
Norsk Folkemuseum
Norsk Folkemuseum, the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History at Bygdøy in Oslo, is a large open air museum. Norsk Folkemuseum is one of Norway’s largest museum of cultural history....
in Oslo.