Vintage Black-and-White Photos Capture Life in Stockholm From the 1940s to 1950s

Karl Werner Edmund (KW) Gullers (1916-1988) was a renowned Swedish photographer. After working and studying with portrait photographer Jan de Meyere, in 1938 he started his own company, which he operated for forty years. In addition to numerous pictures and articles he contributed to a series of Swedish and foreign journals such as Picture Post, Se, Vi, Allers, Gullers made 100 photobooks in both colour and black-and-white. He was the first Swedish photojournalist to have a solo exhibition in Sweden, following international exhibitions in major cities including London, New York, and Chicago.

A young couple at a cafe table.

Below are 35 black-and-white photographs capture people and their life in Stockholm from the 1940s to 1950s, courtesy of the Nordic Museum:

Taxi drivers outside the Grand Hotel.

The window of Sturehof restaurant decorated with a large crayfish.

A man sitting on a bollard and reading a newspaper. Stockholm City Hall and Riddarfjärden in the background.

Housewife gymnastics at Zinkensdamm's sports ground, Södermalm.

A group of swingpjattar outside the dance palace Virveln.

A man hanging upside down from the trampoline in his feet at the Vanadisbadet.

Two warehouse workers walking down Maria Trappgränd in Södermalm.

Two women sit at a table on an outdoor terrace in evening lighting, North Mälarstrand.

Swimming lessons at the public pool Älvsjöbadet.

The entrance of the Skandia cinema.

A road worker stirs boiling asphalt on Drottninggatan street.

A woman staring at the window shop with summer hats on display.

Blå Tåget, Gröna Lund.

A bicycle messenger on his way.

A lonely pedestrian in Vintervägen, later Klara Strand.

Children swimming in Karlaplan's fountain.

Cyclists during rush hour on Stadshusbron bridge.

A homeless young man sitting on the park sofa behind Karl XII's statue, Kungsträdgården.

People strolling and swimming at Fredhällsparken.

A young man and a woman with large flower bundles outside Klarahallen.

Harbor workers rolling truck tires over the dock, Stadsgården.

Three men outside the entrance to the bachelor hotel Kronoberg, 54 Bergsgatan, Kungsholmen.

Two office girls having lunch at Riddarfjärden.

Couples dancing at the dance restaurant Avalon.

Man lighting a cigarette at Bredgränd, Gamla stan.

Two people having lunch in Riddarhustrappan.

A woman brushing a dog.

Two little girls throwing balls in a vault in Cepheus neighborhood, Gamla stan.

Crime writer Stieg Trenter interviewing a policeman in an alley in Gamla stan.

Crown Prince Carl Gustaf with a guard at the Stockholm castle courtyard.

A woman with balloons in a vault in Gamla stan.

Two young men having a nap in a sunny day down at the lock.

A man standing outside the Ryningska Palace main portal, Gamla stan.

Marriage at Stockholm City Hall.