Gunnar Smoliansky
The renowned Swedish photographer, celebrated for his poetic street photography, Smoliansky captured the soul of Stockholm and Södermalm. Through his keen eye for everyday moments and subtle details, Smoliansky documented the quiet beauty of urban life, making him a pivotal figure in Swedish photography.
A few months before opening Stockholm Stadshotell, we were still figuring things out — especially the art. We had some ideas, but nothing felt quite right. Then someone suggested a meeting at a gallery nearby. We showed up, not really knowing what to expect.
But the meeting wasn’t at the gallery. It was a few doors down. We were led through a nondescript entrance, down into a basement, past a bicycle storage room and some forgotten furniture. Then a heavy metal door creaked open — and suddenly, we were somewhere else entirely.
Gunnar Smoliansky’s old studio.
It felt like time had paused there. Books, prints, contact sheets, notebooks, stacked neatly on shelves and tables. Like one of those secret places in a city that was never meant to be found. Something important left intact.
What we realized, standing there surrounded by Gunnar’s work, is how much his photography is about presence. About noticing the world. People on the street. A shadow on a wall. The mark someone left behind. His work changed over the years — from cities and faces, to buildings, and finally to trees and leaves and quiet corners of nature. But always, it was about observing the small moments.
Hotels are like that too. They’re full of fleeting moments. Small encounters. People passing through, carrying stories you’ll never quite know. Locals dropping by. Strangers becoming familiar.
So we decided to let Gunnar’s images live here.
His work is now all over the hotel — in the rooms, in the halls, on quiet walls where you might catch it out of the corner of your eye. The prints span fifty years and still feel alive. There’s humor in them. Stillness. A kind of gentle attention that makes you slow down and look twice.
Most of his images were taken in Södermalm, close to the hotel. Each one is framed exactly how Gunnar liked them framed — by the same framer he always used, just a few blocks from here. It felt important to do it right.
This wasn’t just about decorating the walls. It was about honoring a way of seeing.
Stockholm Stadshotell, 2025
