Martin Ciderblad - The Eye behind the work.

Martin went his own way and became a photographer. After working as a photo assistant in Stockholm and New York, he returned to Sweden and started a career as an interior photographer. Many of the photos (and films) you see in the magazine Sköna Hem and in IKEA's print materials and on their website were taken by Martin. He has a highly trained eye for bringing out the beauty in the compositions that stylists put together. We meet in the studio and drink apple cider.

Hello Martin! Please, have some apple cider!

When did you know you wanted to be a photographer?
I studied humanities at university and had never held a camera, but by chance, I found an evening course in photography at Folkuniversitetet that I decided to try. There, we learned to work in the darkroom and enlarge black-and-white images. I was completely mesmerized by watching the images develop in the developing tank. It was magic. That’s when I knew this was what I wanted to do.

How did it continue from there?
I took a full-time semester in photography. Then, I worked as a photo assistant in both Stockholm and New York. After 4 years, I decided to start on my own.

Was it difficult to break into the job market?
The timing was quite good, it was the early 2000s. Home interior was extremely popular back then, with new interior TV shows like Äntligen Hemma and new home magazines starting every month. Suddenly, there was a whole new genre that hadn’t existed before. I started by doing an unsolicited assignment, showed it to a magazine, and got a job right away. After that, things just kept rolling.

How do you work today?
My main clients are in home interiors, so my focus is on interior photography, but I also do some film work.

What was your first camera?
I borrowed my father-in-law's camera, a NIKON FM2, which was a legendary camera that press photographers used in the 70s. That was when I was at university, starting my first photography courses.

What’s your funniest photography experience?
My very first film assignment is funny looking back. I was thrown into a campaign shoot in South Africa at the last minute. I was practically a beginner with moving images, I didn’t even know everything about the camera, so I spent the entire flight reading the manual on how the camera and equipment worked. The morning after, on the first production day, I was met with a massive team of 40 people, 10 models, catering, buses, and trucks full of equipment. I was terrified! It couldn’t go wrong. I managed the filming and was stressed for weeks afterward, afraid someone would discover I was a fraud, but the film was edited and ended up turning out great. After that, I thought, if I can handle that, I can handle anything.

What’s the advantage of doing interior photography versus other types of photography?
There’s not much difference compared to other types of photography, I’d say. I often work in smaller teams, usually with people I’ve collaborated with for a long time, and it’s always an unpretentious and friendly atmosphere on the shoots.

When did you start with moving images?
In 2018, I made my first attempts with moving images, and I felt re-energized. Each year, I see a shift from still images to film. I think the future is film, as all clients want more moving images. I could imagine doing more film projects in areas outside of interiors. I’d love to have an interesting documentary assignment.

Who is your dream documentary subject?
I’ve thought a lot about this, that I would like to find someone to do a portrait of, but I haven’t come up with anyone. I’ve seen two documentaries by the same director, Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw, which really moved me: one is called The Truffle Hunters about a group of old men in Northern Italy who hunt truffles with their dogs, and the other is Gaucho Gaucho about a group of cowboys in Argentina. If I could find something similar, with some eccentric people doing something distinctive, that would be a dream.

What’s the most rebellious thing you’ve done as a photographer?
Becoming a photographer itself. I come from a background where friends and family either went to business school or medical school, but I had no desire to do that, so I searched for a long time before I figured this out.

What do you do to add some extra spark to your professional life and spice up the everyday?
I treat myself to lunch at a restaurant every day. I bike to different restaurants to have lunch, it’s a little luxury in my daily life.

What do you do in your free time when you’re not filming or photographing?
I do a lot of outdoor activities – biking, water sports like kitesurfing, windsurfing, sailing, but also skiing. Ski touring is my favorite, and the best tour is in the Jämtland mountains, in Vålådalen.

Do you wear your W.r clothes then?
I wear them all the time! Both when I’m doing sports and as layering under my everyday coat.