Johan Bergmark – Close Encounters

In collaboration with the Stockholm International Film Festival 2026

For more than 30 years, photographer Johan Bergmark has portrayed some of the film industry's most prominent figures during their visits to the Stockholm International Film Festival. Now, a selection of these encounters comes together in Close Encounters, an exhibition at House of Photography.

Since the early 1990s, Bergmark has worked as a portrait photographer, with a particular interest in people working in film and music. His photographs are often the result of brief encounters, where time in front of the camera is limited and there is little room for preparation. Rather than creating conventional celebrity portraits, he searches for something more personal, sometimes through unexpected situations or subtle changes in how his subjects engage with the camera.

For Bergmark, portrait photography is not simply about capturing a face, but about revealing something of the person behind the public image. His interest extends beyond actors to directors and screenwriters – the people who collectively shape the stories we see on screen.

Close Encounters revisits three decades of the Stockholm International Film Festival's history through Bergmark's lens. The exhibition opens on November 13 at House of Photography and remains on view through November 22, 2026.