Joakim S Ormsmarck had a busy interview period and he also met Fredrik Etoall and Per Gessle to ask them about their collaboration. The result of this conversation was published in Tylösand Magazine.
When Fredrik Etoall discovered the camera at the age of 16, it was like the missing piece of the puzzle. Finally, he could express himself and capture the moment that he always lives in the middle of. Two years later, after finishing the media high school, together with a friend they took a car down to Höganäs to see the legendary photographer Christer Strömholm’s exhibition. A trip that would change his life.
It was fantastic. We insisted on getting an internship and I stayed there for periods until Christer passed away three years later. There I got to learn the craft for real, manage Christer’s legacy, retouch prints by hand and work with the images that would be passed on to buyers around the world.
This is where Fredrik and Per Gessle crossed paths for the first time when it dawned on the young photographer that the picture he was working on was going to Per Gessle and his hotel in Tylösand. A hotel filled with photos, he had to go there at some point…
My first memory connected to Per and Roxette is “Look Sharp!” on vinyl. I was eight years old and my mother had bought the record. We listened to it and danced at home in Vänersborg. But what caught my attention the most was the cover, the glamour, that’s where I wanted to be. On tour around the world.
Per interjects:
A fantastic cover. It was Mikael Jansson who took that picture!
For those who know his photography history, Mikael Jansson is a well-known name who has created iconic images over the past thirty years that have been published in all the major magazines around the world. It almost feels a bit typical that he was the one who took the picture for the cover of Roxette’s international breakthrough. Surrounding himself with the best photographers has become something of Per Gessle’s signature. Not uncommon at the beginning of their careers.
To Joakim’s question regarding how Per and Fredrik found each other, Fredrik replies:
In the fall of 2011 I worked with Icona Pop and made the video for “I Love It” which was very different from everything else that was being made at the time, rawer and less tidy. We had almost no budget, but the song and the video were a total hit and I followed the group around the world. In the middle of this, Marie Dimberg, Roxette’s manager, got in touch and wondered if I wanted to shoot the band for their album “Travelling”.
Per continues:
I thought it was fun to work with Fredrik right away. He’s a nice guy and he made sure we looked awesome in the pictures, hahaha. He has a feel for good light and a little fix, but not too much. He has the eye and there’s almost not a single picture that’s been published by Fredrik that isn’t good.
Fredrik laughs:
Thank you, I’ll send you money via Swish for the compliments.
About the photo session, Fredrik says:
We had lots of different things to do. When it came to picture four, Marie couldn’t take it anymore. Then I thought, damn it, it went wrong and I didn’t get any pictures at all. But it turned out that we still managed to take some pictures that still live on.
Per adds:
What Fredrik managed to capture with Roxette there and then were pictures of us that we hadn’t really done before, it was special in a way. Take this picture, for example. I have my black nails and yawn, Marie is standing in the background looking a bit uninterested. It’s a really lovely picture from that session.
In retrospect, everyone who was there that day agrees that something happened there and then. A special connection and trust were created, which led to new collaborations. Over the years, Fredrik has worked with Per and Marie solo as well as Roxette, PG Roxette and Gyllene Tider.
Per remembers:
When we made PG Roxette, we worked for two days. But we didn’t use anything from day two, because we had such a great first day with an incredibly good amount of material. It’s different when it’s just me. It’s easier. When I felt like I wanted to change pants, I just went and got another pair of pants. Or when Fredrik had an idea that I should have something that matched the curtain in the room, we solved it. It’s that simple.
Fredrik agrees:
That’s true, every session is unique. There is a big difference between working with one person or with a whole group, then the dynamics in the group become so important. I have been on jobs on other occasions where there may have been some fuss in the group before I came, and then it is so clearly noticeable. With Gyllene it has been a lot of fun, because there are five such different personalities who together become what is so special.
Fredrik tells Joakim what Marie Fredriksson has meant to their collaboration. How her elegance and power combined with humility led to a special relationship.
When I photographed Marie for what would be her last solo album at Grand Hotel, I took the picture of her standing in the window looking out towards the castle. It’s one of my absolute favourite pictures. It symbolizes both freedom and strength, how she carries both herself and me in that picture.
All interview text is written by Joakim S Ormsmarck for Tylösand Magazine in Swedish. Here it is a translation by RoxBlog.
Thanks a lot for helping out with the physical copy of the magazine, Chrissie Röhrs!