Maja Daniels - Gertrud - 2024

A rare title, edition of 900 copies sold out. In perfect, as new condition. Grand Prize Winner – Hariban Award 2024 and Winner – FotoBus Library Award 2025.

In 1667 a 12-year-old girl, Gertrud Svensdotter, was accused of walking on water in Älvdalen, Sweden. This event marked the beginning of the Swedish witch-hunts, a period of mass hysteria and horror in Älvdalen and its neighbouring regions. The forthcoming book ‘Gertrud’ by artist Maja Daniels uses photography to reconfigure the history and myth of these events, igniting a contemporary dialogue around Gertrud.

Maja Daniels—who has family ties to the town of Älvdalen—grew up hearing her grandmother speak of the stories surrounding Gertrud Svensdotter. The resulting witch trials, now known as ‘Det stora oväsendet’ (the big clamour), claimed the lives of over 300 people across 8-years. Centuries later, these events, almost incomprehensible to modern sensibilities, are still viewed as one of the most macabre and dark periods in Sweden’s history.

“Within this series I use photography as a tool for mythmaking. Myths are open to interpretations but refuse to be fully locked down. Photographs function in a similar way. The core of what is expressed in an image lies somewhere in the unseen or in its silent associations.”