To awake desire

In the beginning of his photographic career Jan Dahlqvist mostly took pictures of women, both fashion shots and nudes. Lately he has also been shooting portraits, art and food. What is striking in his style of photography is his way to always find a nerve and awake a desire. There is a sensualism in all his photos, whether the object is a nude, a bronze sculpture or a starter.
I will never forget when a friend of Jan looked at a couple of photos and exclaimed: “Jan, everything you shoot looks so sexy!” The photos turned out to show potatoes, and one could do nothing but agree.

Anna Ekelund, designer and writer

“Proud People” is a fascinating and unique documentary.
Proudly the models stand in front an old canvas, which the photographer has traveled with for years.

In a classical way he has portrayed a group of people, all different but alike in one aspect; they are all proud of who they are.

Proud People, full of warmth, respect and curiosity, allows people to show sides of them selves you seldom get to see in Sweden.

Walter Hirsch

Walter Hirsch(Walter Hirsch is the one of the great names of Swedish photography with several exhibitions in the Swedish Museum for Modern Arts)

As soon as an artist is an autodidact people use to say he was born with a brush or a pen in his hands. Some try to explain how a unique persons talent, his devotion and strong personality compensate the lack of formal education. Instead people should realize that formal education is not the only way for everyone.

In the case of Jan Dahlqvist he has evolved to the artist he is today, thanks to his aversion for institutions like art schools and photography educations. He has seen how wilful and original minds eventually have become standardized.

Instead, Dahlqvist has found much of his inspiration through pornography and erotic art, not making any difference between high and low. In constant conflict with the taste and ideals of his time and the opinion of what is and is not proper to show in magazines and galleries, he has developed a powerful figurative language.

Jan Dahlqvist carries a strong urge to document and reveal his own, but also his models´ secret dreams and hidden wishes.

In his photo series Proud People he lets people give their full expression in front of the camera, be liberated from the shame that often is inflicted upon them thanks to the confirming gaze of the photographer and his camera. It is the same confirming gaze that makes me shiver when I look at the large black and white photographs; By letting us feel proud of ourselves and bring out our hidden selves he liberates us in his pictures.

Ylva Maria Thompson

(Ylva Maria Thompson is an artist, writer, debater and sensorial sampler. She got famous in the 80´s and 90´s when she was the delightful and impudent host of the erotic TV show “Tusen och en natt”, wherein she provoked Sweden by showing pornographic movies, debating sex and lust and having fun.) 

I have been very inspired of Edward S Curtis (1868-1952), Frontier Photographer, who left an indelible mark on the history of photography in his 20-volume lifework, “The North American Indian”.

He traveled with his simple equipment and documented American Indians. As Homer Boelter wrote about 1966; "All of the wonderful lighting effects were achieved with sunlight and a few small light reflectors."

It is referred to as part photographic essay, part ethnographic survey, and part work of art. Curtis photogravure prints in The North American Indian reveal peoples whose traditional ways of live were coming to an end as the U.S. frontier began to fade.

In the same way I am trying to capture the modern tribes of people of today. In the modern western world, where many ethnic borders are erased and where people grow up with more or less the same culture, with the same TV programmes, books and magazines, we communicate and express our belonging to a certain group (or tribe) with our clothes, music, taste, books, hobbies, profession, etc.
Whether you are a biker, surfer, punk rocker or a stockbroker. Our modern tribes are different today than they where one hundred years ago, but likewise we do belong to some tribe...

Today it is perhaps even more important for people to show and express that they are unique and special. Today you are a member of a group without geographical borders, and you can easily communicate with your tribe members via internet and television.

In the same way that Edward S Curtis captured the proud Indians of North America I want to capture these proud people of today using only a 6x6 camera, a very old tarpaulin as a backdrop and simple lightning. Proud People, often living on the border or outskirts of our normal society. Part photographic essay, part ethnographic survey, and part work of art.

Jan Dahlqvist