Mats Bäcker

Photographer

Mats Bäcker (b. 1958, Hagfors, Sweden) began his career photographing the rock music scene in the late 1970s before moving into theater, opera, and dance. Trained at Konstfack University College of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm, he developed a visual language that combines backstage intimacy with striking performance imagery.

From 1987 to 1995 he freelanced for magazines and the Royal Dramatic Theatre, and from 1996 to 2006 he served as official photographer for the Royal Swedish Opera and Ballet. His photographs have been exhibited internationally, including at Fotografiska in Stockholm, and in Paris, Madrid, Ibiza, and Beirut. His series Fairytales, created at the Museum of Biology in Stockholm, won the ARTe TV jury prize at the Paris Cutlog Fair in 2011.

Bäcker continues to freelance throughout Scandinavia for opera, dance, theater, classical music performances, and portraits, while also working on his own personal photography projects.

His collaboration with Alan Lucien Øyen and winter guests began with If We Shadows Have Offended (2015) and has continued through Kodak (2016), The Wizard of Oz (2017), Som Lauvet i Vallombrosa (2017), Bon Voyage, Bob(2018), Still Life (2024), and Antigone (2025). His images have become integral to the company’s visual archive, embodying the atmosphere, intensity, and humanity of its productions.

Mats Bäcker

Contact Info

Alan Lucien Øyen

Ornella Sallum

Martin Flack

Tora De Zwart Rørholt