Christer Strömholm was initially associated with Subjective Photography and Otto Steinert's Fotoforum group. Feeling that their aspirations had become too formalist, however, he left the group and spent several years in Paris and travelling extensively, as the title of the present work implies. In 1962, he returned to Stockholm and, together with Tor-Ivar Odulf, set up the Fotoskolan, where he taught students, including Sam J. Lundwall and Anders Petersen, the importance of developing a personal relationship with your subject.

In Strömholm's view, photographers should only approach a subject with a solid grounding in personal experience, using photography to reach a more profound knowledge of themselves. 'If you do not participate in life, you don't get any good images,' he declared.

First edition; 4to (240 x 198 mm, 9 ½ x 7 ¾ in); black-and-white photographs printed in offset, text by Tor-Ivan Odulf, top edge a little dusty; dark grey cloth-covered boards, spine and front stamped in silver, photo-illustrated dust-jacket, toned and a little soiled, wear to edges with several short tears, one strengthened with tape on verso, remnants of an old price sticker on rear panel, near-fine in a good dust-jacket; [122]pp.

The Photobook A History, I p251; The Open Book pp232-3; 802 books from the Auer Collection p466.