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Peder Andersson’s career as a photographer started almost by accident. As a 16-year-old music fan in his hometown of Gävle he attended a concert by singer Björn Skifs (of Blue Swede and ‘Hooked On A Feeling’ fame) in the mid-Seventies. He persuaded the guards that he was a photographer and even managed to find his way backstage where the singer asked him to take some pictures of band and crew and then send them to him. “When I went home that night I knew that I was going to be a photographer,” says Peder. A shot of Alice Cooper was his first published picture, featured on the cover of teen mag Tio i topp in 1976. After a few weeks as a trainee at a local newspaper he was employed as a copyist, and he’s never looked back since.
The Premium Rockshot archive features Peder’s pictures of innumerable Swedish and foreign acts: everyone from Ulf Lundell, Ted Gärdestad, Gyllene Tider and Tomas Ledin to Meat Loaf, Madness, Jethro Tull, The Jam, Genesis, David Bowie, Frank Zappa, Kiss, ZZ Top, Yes, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd and Bruce Springsteen. “Live pictures are my main thing,” says Peder, and certainly, there are many photos from concerts in the archive. However, sometimes he has been employed directly by the artists themselves: for instance, when Kiss needed a photographer who could document their visit to Sweden and the assignment went to Peder. And none other than Peter Gabriel pulled out his typewriter to write a personal thank-you letter for pictures that were taken in conjunction with one of his Stockholm visits.
Peder Andersson has not given up taking pictures of artists. “It’s more than ever these days,” he says. “My interest in music will never die – it’s part of my DNA.”
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