Ellen Eurenius Hallgren’s exhibition Threads, on view at the main gallery of Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre, explores how we engage with images at a time of political exhaustion when the flow of information, opinions and visuals is accelerating rapidly.
In her work, Eurenius Hallgren draws from images found in her smartphone’s photo albums as well as physical family albums, both personal and unknown, including one found in the attic of a disused factory in Sweden. Screenshots of Instagram events and news moments are interwoven with family photographs and portraits of people whose stories are not known to us.
Threads connects fragments of images that represent different experiences to create forms that guide the way we look. Some narratives begin to emerge, while others remain concealed. The works form a movement of memories, a layering of moments where recollections begin to converse. By combining social media posts and news flashes with images from family albums, the compositions portray the constant stream of images we encounter daily while simultaneously encouraging the viewers to pause and observe the images, guided by the threads.
In one of the exhibition spaces, the walls are painted green, a shade reminiscent of the colour found in old archive cabinets that evokes a sense of order. On one wall, images printed on transparent paper are displayed in double-sided frames, allowing visitors to view them from both sides. The installation recalls the look of enlarged photographic slides. A printout of a YouTube screenshot, marked by green and pink moiré, an optical interference pattern, is juxtaposed with prints of black-and-white photographs from a relative’s photo collection from the 1960s and images that appear to come from an album from the 1920s. These fragments from different times and events hang intertwined and flow into one another. With this recombination of images, Eurenius Hallgren wants to open up possibilities and memories that suggest new ways of perceiving images and telling stories.
Through placement of diverse objects in a carefully constructed dialogue, the room becomes an archaeological site of private and collective memories and experiences. It is a space where impulses and responses are allowed to unfold and new narratives and unexpected connections can emerge.For Eurenius Hallgren, sewing is a way to engage with an image intimately, giving it attention and cultivating a slower, more deliberate awareness of what lies ahead. It is a means of creating a presence around an absence that is unreachable through language – and perhaps a quiet form of resistance. Photography, collage and sewing transform the exhibition space into a place where different realities converge, creating an imaginative atmosphere that drifts between authenticity and fantasy.
Eurenius Hallgren gives a guided tour to the exhibition on Saturday 6th of September, starting at 13:00. After the guided tour, Eurenius Hallgren has a workshop about the theme of the exhibition – the constant flow of images. Read more about the workshop and register for free from our event page.
Threads
Ellen Eurenius Hallgren
6.9.-26.10.2025
Photo North – Northern Photographic Centre’s gallery
