Peter Östlund, born in 1951, has been working with images and film since the 1980s. Educated in cinematography at college level, he has filmed in more than 35 countries and remains active today as both a filmmaker and photographer.

He has worked in some of the world’s most remote and challenging environments — in Siberia, documenting shamans through film and photography; on the same subject in Burkina Faso; and in Eastern Congo (DRC), where he served as cinematographer on a film portraying the work of Dr. Denis Mukwege. Always at the edge, always far from the familiar paths of tourism.

Film and still photography have always been his passion. His work as a cinematographer has formed one part of his artistry, while his photography has evolved along a parallel path – always seeking a different approach, avoiding the usual trails. In both disciplines, he searches for what lies behind the screen or the photographic paper. This often translates into slow sequences in film and lower resolution in photography, leaving space for the viewer to discover meaning for themselves.

Pinhole photography, for Peter, is a way to explore movement within stillness. He believes sharpness is overrated — that it can block access to the inner image within the viewer’s mind. Too much detail may halt the experience, leaving the image on the surface only. The mind must be invited to fill in the blanks, to create something truly significant.

His approach resonates with the early 20th-century movement of Pictorialism. When Kodak’s cameras made photography widely accessible, artists began seeking ways to reintroduce emotion and interpretation, often reducing detail and embracing stylization. Some even scratched, underexposed, or experimented with their negatives to rediscover mystery and mood.

Peter also holds a broader philosophy of art: Art, he suggests, became essential to humans as we drifted away from Nature. As long as we are one with Nature, we do not need Art — for Nature itself is the purest form of Art. What we seek through creating and experiencing Art is a return to something as simple, elemental, and profound as Nature itself.

When art remembers its origin, it bends toward stillness. It stops describing the world and starts breathing with it. Every true image is a kind of listening – a dialogue between light and the unseen. The slower the gaze, the closer it comes to nature’s own rhythm.