Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff | Wiki, Biography, Books, Photography, Facts

Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff (1927 - 2015) was a Swedish nature photographer and author of several award-winning children's books. She was a photographer and children's book author with a very long career. 

The road to the photography profession went through a job as an assistant to a Stockholm photographer before she turned 20 years old. 

As a photographer, she was active in documentary, art, and nature photography. The first time as a professional photographer was dominated by assignments for newspapers and the weekly press. 

Sucksdorff published her last book only a few years before she died in 2015.

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Biography

Family

She was the daughter of the well-known research traveler Sten Bergman and his wife Dagny. She was married in 1949–1953 to Sven Gillsäter , 1953–1964 to Arne Sucksdorff and from 1967 to Gösta Vogel-Rödin (1924–98). She last lived in Skara.

Early career

In 1948, a group of young photographers were formed, who had a common view that the then-dominant taste in established Swedish photography was old-fashioned, rigid, and uniform. 

In the group that called itself "The young" there were several photographers who later came to dominate Swedish photography during the second half of the 20th century. 

There were names like Hans Hammarskjöld, Lennart Nilsson, Tore Johnson and Christer Strömholm . The year after the formation of "De Unga", an exhibition entitled "Young Photographers" was arranged, which today is considered the breakthrough for photography as an art form in Sweden. Astrid Bergman was included as one of three female photographers in the exhibition.

Collaboration with Arne Sucksdorff

In 1952, Astrid Bergman received a request from the filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff to become a still photographer for his first feature film project, The Great Adventure. 

Astrid and Arne shared a strong interest in nature and soon became a couple. In connection with the filming in the forests of Sörmland, Astrid was given responsibility for an injured fox cub and this led to the photo project that resulted in her first photo book for children Micki the fox cub. 

The pictures from that book are the pictures that were later shown in an outdoor exhibition at Landskrona Foto.

The collaboration with Arne Sucksdorff led to Astrid being involved in a number of film projects. One of the films, A Jungle Tale, was shot in India and they spent long periods there. In the early 1960s, however, they went their separate ways.

Recent years

After a long period of travel and living abroad, Astrid Bergman Sucksdorff became a resident of Sweden and in addition to assignments for magazines, her photography focused on nature photography and the writing of children's books. 

In 1984, she was awarded the Astrid Lindgren Prize for her more than 20 children's books where the photographs were central. In her memoirs "With life in focus", published in 1997, she tells of a highly exciting and diverse life. She died on January 12, 2015, in Skara. Her photographic heritage has been managed since 2015 by Landskrona Museum.

Works (selection)

• 1953 – Micki rävungen
• 1959 – Chendru får en tiger, en berättelse om en pojke i den indiska djungeln
• 1964 – Ödetorpet
• 1965 – Tiger i sikte
• 1967 – En bok om rådjur
• 1970 – Toni, elefantförarens son, en berättelse från Assam i Indien
• 1971 – Tranorna vid Hornborgasjön
• 1975 – Förstoringsglaset
• 1977 – Till en jaktkamrat
• 1978 – Blommor
• 1979 – Insekter
• 1979 – Fåglar
• 1980 – Vilda djur
• 1982 – Träd
• 1984 – Saras hundvalp
• 1984 – Gläntan
• 1988 – Djur i naturen, däggdjur, fåglar, insekter
• 1990 – Träd & Blommor
• 1990 – Möten med djur i skogar, vid vattendrag, kring hus
• 1991 – Mina första vilda djur
• 1991 – Mina första små kryp
• 1991 – Mina första fåglar
• 1991 – Mina första blommor
• 1991 – Djur på landet
• 1992 – Mina första fåglar vid vattnet
• 1992 – Mina första djur på zoo
• 1993 – Mina första trädgårdsblommor
• 1993 – Mina första husdjur
• 1997 – Med livet i fokus (biography)

Sources: 

• Lövkvist, Linda (2018). Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon, (In Swedish). University of Gothenburg. ISBN 978-91-639-7594-3.
• Grosjean, Alexia. Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon [Biographical Dictionary of Swedish Women], (In English). University of Gothenburg. ISBN 978-91-639-7594-3.