This story is taken from the Autumn/Winter 2025 issue of AnOther Magazine:
“In Hervé Guibert’s book Ghost Image, he writes about preparing to take a portrait of his mother. It’s so vivid in its description. Even though the book has no images, I can envision the photograph so clearly. He goes to great lengths to ensure the image is perfect, that his mother looks a certain way. At the end of the essay, we learn that the film was blank – there is no photograph. I love how that relates to what photography is, a moment captured. Technically speaking, he fails to do this, but even though the image doesn’t exist, the memory of it does. We can visualise this non-existent photo through his description and each reader perhaps imagines something slightly different, depending on their experiences and memories. I suppose I’ve never known anyone write about a photograph that doesn’t exist before. And his writing feels like life itself. It’s how I would like to write about photography. I can’t remember exactly how I came across Guibert, but I can’t now imagine not knowing about him.”
For Lina Scheynius, who captured this portfolio, “photographs are like dancing ghosts”. They are an extension of her memory, something that she collects and treasures as a way of preserving moments passed. She looks at the intimate and sensual through an instinctual and diaristic lens, with a recurring focus on self-portraiture that blurs the lines between vulnerability and performance. The Swedish artist has been taking photographs professionally since 2007, going on to publish 19 photobooks to date and showcase her work in solo and group exhibitions around the world. This year marks the release of her debut book of prose, Diary of an Ending, a work that is both memoir and autofiction. Interspersed with black and white photographs and essays that explore themes including motherhood and home, it documents the final months of a long-term relationship.
This story features in the Autumn/Winter 2025 issue of AnOther Magazine, which is on sale now. Diary of an Ending by Lina Scheynius, translated by Saskia Vogel and published by Prototype Publishing, is out now.