I want my photos to portray my own and people’s mental landscapes in general,” says photographer Svante Gullichsen to the Phoblographer in an interview. “The human mind operates in intriguing and unpredictable ways, which is why I want my photos to reflect that. Common emotional states in my work include anxiety, panic, tranquility, freedom, and ecstasy.” We can see and feel this in Svante’s images as he goes out into the wilds and puts himself in situations that one wouldn’t necessarily think of. However, they all feel a bit like a dream.
Svante’s previous works addressed OCD and negative opinions. And through his images, he wants people to understand how folks feel and the struggle happening in their minds. This struggle isn’t often visible on the surface. When we look at his images, we’re reminded of photographers like Jonathan Higbee and many others we’ve interviewed that try to do similar pieces. All of them feel a bit like both a dreamy space and a bit like a nightmare — which further solidifies the understanding that isn’t easy at all for people. Combining these scenes with nature helps add to the sense of foreboding since so much is out of our control. Perhaps most importantly, the fact that the humans are such a small but important part of the scene gives us the feeling that there is much work to do.
HOW SVANTE GULLICHSEN GOT INTO PHOTOGRAPHY
Way before Instagram and Facebook, there were other social platforms. Xanga was a huge one. There was also Myspace, LiveJournal, Deviant Art, etc. But there was also a Finnish social media service called IRC-Galleria. “People would post pictures there, comment on them, and write diary entries,” Svante tells us. “I saw how some people took great and, at that time, inventive photos and decided that I wanted to do the same. That was the first spark.” So after begging his parents for. DSLR, he got one at the age of 14 for confirmation. The camera became a part of him.
These days, he’s not very tech-oriented. He shoots with a classic Canon 5D Mk IV, a Sigma 24-70mm f2.8, a Canon 24-105mm f4 L, and a Profoto B1x flash. Truly, he doesn’t need much more than that.
THE CREATIVE SIDE
The photo above is called Minute / Lifetime and it’s from 2022. It’s all about finding the world open again after being such at home due to severe mental health issues. He used to travel a ton until 2019 when severe OCD turned his life into a miserable existance. “Severe anxiousness prevented me from leaving my home and seeing the world like I had loved to do before,” he tells us. Years of therapy and medication helped him get ready to go out into the world again in 2022 — which was also a bit after the pandemic. Svante went to Dresden, Germany where he learned to be confident in being alone and away from home.
Here’s more about that photograph:
During one day, I went hiking alone in Saxon Switzerland National Park, which I had researched online beforehand. I had brought along a few clothes in case I felt like taking some photos. I spent the whole day wandering through small villages and breathtaking landscapes without the familiar anxiety that had plagued me for years. At some point, I veered off the trail to this spot and decided to take a picture that would capture this feeling of freedom. The clouds were behaving unpredictably, and sometimes the sunbeams would shine dramatically through the clouds. I climbed onto a small rocky outcrop and let the camera do its magic. The problem arose when it was time to leave the outcrop. Between it and the bedrock was a deep ravine of about 50 meters, and I had to jump uphill onto the wet rock to get out. I was far from other people, and a small fear gripped my stomach, realizing that things could go really wrong here. Nonetheless, I jumped and made it. It cemented together the euphoric feeling of freedomSvante Gullichsen
