Anders Petersen: Gröna Lund

Originally published in 1973, Gröna Lund was Anders Petersen’s first book. Now reissued it offers an interesting second look as to where it all began for the Swedish photographer. Similar to the now iconic Cafe Lehmitz series Gröna Lund focuses on another construct of leisure, one of Sweden’s oldest amusement parks found on an island close to Stockholm.

The work displays many of the hallmark signs of Petersen’s work: people young and old, bodies tangled in embrace, dancing couples and solitary figures; joy, sadness, camaraderie; evenings of stolen moments and dashed hopes – all framed by the often present sense of longing. Returning to the work now, some forty years later, the re-publication of Gröna Lund certainly goes some way to confirming Petersen as one of today’s photographic masters, highlighting the extraordinary grip he holds over his subjects.