Nationalmuseum Sweden acquires portrait of retired farmer P.A. Söderström by Sune Jonsson
(Artdaily.org)

The National Museum has acquired a portrait of P.A. Söderström, a retired farmer. It was taken in 1962 by the photographer Sune Jonsson. It was included in the book Images of the Children of Grace. The portrait is an interesting example of Jonsson`s documentary photography, and is also one of the few representations of a small farmer in Sweden’s National Portrait Gallery. The retired farmer Per Albin Söderström (1883-1969) sits on a sofa in his home in Ytterbyn (Lövånger Parish). He is dapperly dressed in a white shirt, vest and tie. Perhaps the picture was taken on a Sunday, or maybe Söderström wished to dress up for the photographer. The sofa is made up with a covered down blanket and a comfortable pillow, so that the old man can rest there. On the wall hangs a framed photograph of a bride and groom from the turn of the last century. Both are solemnly dressed in black. Next to them there is a painting