Johan Wallqvist

I’ve always been in motion. Even when I was still, my feet kept tapping—sometimes to my own surprise, often to the frustration of others. Movement has always been my natural state.

As a teenager, I discovered music—not just the listening, but the playing. Piano lessons gave way to electric guitars and rock school, where I found my first chords, my first band, and a creative home. It felt like I had stepped into something larger than myself.

After turning twenty, I began to take music more seriously. Over the years that followed, I wrote songs, recorded three albums, and toured extensively. I even had the surreal experience of hearing strangers sing my lyrics back to me. Those moments stay with you. But eventually, something shifted. The music began to reflect expectations more than truth. So I made a difficult but necessary decision: I left the band I had co-founded. I’ve never regretted it.

I kept writing songs—only now, I wrote the ones I actually wanted to hear. Honest ones. For myself.

Then, around forty, photography found me. I didn’t seek it out—it simply called. What began as curiosity became something deeper. A place of my own. A space where I could create without compromise. I’m self-taught and still learning. What drew me in was photography’s unique way of speaking—through light, through stillness, through the small, unspoken things.

The more involved I became, the more I noticed familiar patterns. The pressure to perform, to please, to chase approval. Especially in the world of social media. But I resist that now. I try to stay true to what brought me here in the first place: the need to create honestly, quietly, and on my own terms.

I'm available for commissions and open to collaborations. If my work speaks to you, feel free to reach out.