Five functionalist Stockholm buildings by photographer Mårten Ryner

MÅRTEN RYNER

Mårten Ryner is a Stockholm-based still life and interior photographer. After studying mathematics and getting his foundation in photography in Sweden he moved to Australia to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Commercial Photography from RMIT in Melbourne. With influence from geometry, Ryner finds balance in his images through solid platforms of colour, negative space and line suspensions within the frame.

Nymble by Uno Åhrén and Sven Markelius, 1928

TNE           How come you did it?

M.R             It lived as a thought in my head for years but I got talking to a friend of mine who’s involved in the sunnies brand Oh my Eyes. Their first collection is inspired by Scandinavian modernism and it just seemed like a perfect fit to have a little numbered black & white print with each pair of glasses. We decided that it should be architecture in Stockholm as the brand is based here.

TNE           What feeling did you want to capture?

M.R              I wanted to emphasize the clean lines and main features but also try and find a vantage point that perhaps isn’t always the given when you think of these buildings. I also shot all buildings in sunlight to lift the starkness in them but what I think is so striking is that they still play so well with their surroundings.

Råcksta Krematorium by Gunnar Martinsson and Klas Fåhraeus, 1964

TNE           What’s your favourite building in the series and why?

M.R             I think the chapels in Råcksta stand out for me. A little less known than The Woodland Cemetery, looks just like a box from the road but I just love how the building treats the sunlight during the duration of the day. And there is something with the window slits that I can’t put my finger on. It’s worth the trip on a sunny day.

TNE           How many pictures did you take all in all? During how long time?

M.R              Since this became a little pet project it was all too easy to spend time on so in the end we had to make a fairly harsh cut. From a 150 or so down to 30 or so. It was during the spring and summer so on and off for 5 months or so. Each project was given plenty of time but I had to stop myself after 5 days at The Woodlands Cemetery. We had what we needed and mind you this was only the exteriors we were focusing on. There are still plenty of buildings that should be in this so it might expand in the future.

St. Eriks Gymnasium by Paul Hedqvist, 1937

Stockholm Public Library by Gunnar Asplund, 1928

Markuskyrkan by Sigurd Lewerentz, 1960