ABOUT | niklas-larsson

I was born in 1978 in Sundsvall, Sweden. I left my home town Sundsvall for the city of Hässleholm at the age of 21. Since then I have lived in Gothenburg, Los Angeles, New York, Geneva and Stockholm, which is my present location.

So far I have visited around 40 countries in my work. For example I have covered three Olympic Games, two FIFA World Cups and four Atlethics World Championships. I've had my work published in a wide range of magazines and newspapers around the world, including Sports Illustrated, Washington Post, NY Times, El Pais and L'Équipe etc.

Work experience:

2012-present CEO, Partner and Staff Photographer at Bildbyrån Photo Agency (www.bildbyran.se). Bildbyrån is the largest Sports Photo Agency in Scandinavia with 18 employees and around 50 stringers connected to the agency. Bildbyrån covers national as well as international sporting events such as the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup. Bildbyrån cooperates with around 20 international photo agencies around the world.

2011-2012 Freelance photographer in Stockholm, Sweden for most of the major newspapers and agencies in Sweden and stringer for the Associated Press (www.ap.org).

2010-2011 Photographer at Sweden's leading news and photo agency TT (Scanpix) and freelancer for most of the major newspapers in Sweden and the Associated Press (www.ap.org).

2009-2010 Photographer at Sweden’s business daily Dagens Industri and stringer for the Associated Press in Sweden.

2009 Freelance photographer in New York, USA for Swedish and Norwegian press.

2008 Photographer at Sweden’s business daily Dagens Industri (www.di.se) and stringer for the Associated Press in Sweden.

2008 Freelance photographer in Geneva, Switzerland. I covered the soccer EURO 2008 in Switzerland/Austria for the Associated Press.

2007-2008 Photographer at Dagens Nyheter (www.dn.se), which is the largest nationwide morning daily newspaper in Sweden.

2006-2007 Freelance photographer in Geneva, Switzerland, were I worked for AFP, Keystone and Swedish press.

2006 Photographer at Exponera in Gothenburg, Sweden.

2005-2006 On leave of absence from my work at Exponera to work as a freelance photographer in Los Angeles, USA, were I worked as a contracted stringer for the AP and on assignment for Swedish and Norwegian press.

2004-2005 In May 2004 I founded the photo agency Exponera together with two other photographers. (www.exponera.org) Exponera covers western Sweden for TT, which is the largest photo and news agency in Sweden.

2000-2004 Full time staff photographer at the sports photo agency Bildbyrån from April 2000 to May 2004. At Bildbyrån I had between 100 and 200 workdays abroad per year.

1997-2000 Staff photographer at the daily newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning. (www.st.nu)

Education:

1997 Internship as a designer and photographer at the advertising agency Mellerstedts Reklam and an internship as a photographer at the daily newspaper Sundsvalls Tidning.

1994-1997 Photography and design high school programme at Hedbergska gymnasieskolan in Sundsvall.

Awards:

2015 Award of Excellence in Picture of The Year International 2015 in the Sports Feature category.

2015 3rd prize in the 2015 Swedish Picture of The Year Awards in the Portrait Series category.

2014 Winner of The Swedish Picture of The Year Honorary Award in 2014.

2010 2nd price in NPPA Best Of Photojournalism 2010 in the category Best Published Picture Story, large markets.

2009 An Award Of Excellence in Picture Of The Year International 2009 in the category Feature Picture Story.

2009 Winner of Scanpix Grand Photo Award 2009. (Scanpix Stora Fotopris)

2005 2nd price in the 2005 Swedish Picture of The Year Awards in the Spot News category.

2001 An award of excellence in the Society For News Designs international contest in the spot news category in 2001.

Solo exhibitions:

2010 “Mikael Unlimited” at House Of Sweden in Washington DC, USA. May 1 - December 31, 2010.