Sonja Bohman
Aquatic tranquility
by: Beata Ulvsbäck | Augusti 27, 2021
Sonja Bohman’s imagery lets the viewer transcend into a tranquil world of water and harmony. Each photograph is its own universe of emotion and color, as if time has stopped to catch its breath.
When I speak with Sonja I feel noticeably safe in her creative presence. She calls herself a ”hobby photographer” and for her it seems to be more about the emotion, to create images with gusto. And the conscious decision of not turning her art into a job.
However, behind her images of water drops lies hours and hours of research, patience, and trials. The expression of the drops are cleanly composed and carefully planned, and complex and varied expressions are created with color and direction of the water.
You can easily tell by her particular accent that she is from Stockholm, and there is a certain way she pronounces words in conversation. I love it, but have yet to master the trait. To be precise she lives in Tyresö just north of Stockholm with her husband Stefan and her four sons. And four dogs. By education Sonja is an economist and by profession an accountant.
”It’s what puts food on the table”
– It’s what puts food on the table, Sonja says with laughter. One could argue that economy and accounting are a contrast to her creative and experimental photography. Perhaps it is precisely this contrast that gives her the lust, and yearning to create.
She tells me that she has always had an interest in photography, but it didn’t really take off and became fun until the advent of the digital era around 2004. She took an evening course in digital photography and through that course she discovered the Swedish photography site fotosidan.se, where she became a member and spent a lot of time.
Lust, joy, and curiosity is what infuses our conversation. Sonja tells me about her photography with such passion there is no doubt in my mind she truly loves what she does.

The eager Sonja learned to photograph macro, landscape, and portraits. She asked around in the forums—and the forums replied. She started out shooting mundane motives like animals, children, flowers but after some 10 years she felt something was missing.