Swedish photographer Märta Thisner has been photographing her friends for a decade. The photos mostly show how intoxicated you can get from friendship and alcohol, and she has brought them together in a project called Drunk In Love. Because she has been documenting her friends for such a long time, she divided the enormous amount of photos in different periods. Tonight, her latest exhibition Drunk In Love: 2014-2016 opens, to which she gave us a preview.
Scroll down for more photos below.
VICE: How is this exhibition related to Beyoncé's "Drunk in love"?
Märta Thisner: The project has had a few different names over the years, but I just loved the title of the song. I'm not sure if Beyoncé was going for the same theme as I am, but I just felt that the title fit perfectly.
How do you work?
I'm often [photographing] at parties. I love photographing with flash – I like capturing the vulnerability that shows at night. People are more relaxed when they're out partying and are usually more open to showing emotion. I take pictures with an analogue camera I carry around in my bag. A lot of times I'll have forgotten what I photographed by the time I have the photos developed. So it's quite exciting to go through the pictures when they're ready – I never really know what I'll find.
Tell me about your subjects for this series.
I only shoot people I know personally. I'm very shy, so it's sometimes hard for me to approach people – it's always easier when I'm a little drunk. I've been working on this project for such a long time that some people come back at different times. Frida is one of my best friends and I've photographed her a lot over the years. She now has a baby.
Are the moments in your photos genuine, or do you orchestrate them in any way?
I never orchestrate moments, but I do choose to capture precise moments. And the pictures I select have a specific aesthetic, I think. So in a way I romanticise life, I build a story that is beautiful, where everything looks pretty and fun. Of course, that's not really what life looks like all the time.
It's a familiar kind of aesthetic, you'll also find it with Jonnie Craig, Felix Swensson and possibly Lina Scheynius.
Yes, definitely. There have been a few times that I've thought, why should I photograph this, it's been done a million times? But it's usually men who make this kind of work, and I bring a women's point of view. I also try not to objectify the people in my photographs too much, which I think is pretty common in similar work.
When do you think a photo of yours works really well?
I love it when you can't really tell what's going on in the photo – you're kind of thrown into a moment.
Märta Thisner's Drunk In Love: 2014 – 2016 opens tonight at 5 PM at Under Bron, Hammarby Slussväg 2, Stockholm, Sweden. See more of Märta Thisner's work here.
