Jan M Lundahl has photographed Bruce Springsteen for 25 years.
Photo: AXEL ÖBERG
It was when Jan M Lundahl as a 13-year-old saw an album by Bruce Springsteen, “Darkness on the edge of town” and was captured by the album cover, that he decided to start photographing. In “News morning” on TV4, he talks about the experience.
– I still think that picture is absolutely magical. I went home and told my mother that I must have a camera, says Janne in the program.
Said and done. Janne started photographing and in 1999 the dream came true. Then he got his first photo session with Springsteen.
THE ARTICLE IN BRIEF
• Jan “Janne” M Lundahl has photographed Bruce Springsteen for 25 years and became friends with his guitarist in 2003.
• Today, Lundahl is currently working on a photo book about “The boss” and is still in contact with guitarist Nils Lofgren.
• Janne has actually only met Springsteen once, when he happened to be in the wrong place.
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Three years later, in 2002, Janne sat with some friends in Kungsträdgården and ate ice cream when Springsteen was in town. All of a sudden he sees Nils Lofgren, guitarist in Springsteen’s band “E Street band”. They start talking and Janne shows her pictures to Lofgren, who is impressed. Lofgren says that he will call Janne, which Janne does not believe.
The cover that made Janne start photography.
Photo: Press photo
The conversation that changed everything
But a year later the phone rings. It is Lofgren who tells us that he likes the pictures – and that Springsteen does too. He asks Janne if he wants to go on their tour in the Nordics – and Janne says yes immediately.
– You have to pinch yourself and think: “Why did I get this chance?”. He should see Janne ten times a week and yet he calls me.
Today, over 20 years after the first meeting in Kungsträdgården, Janne is still in contact with Nils Lofgren.
– We talk maybe four times a week, just as two old men who shout and enjoy themselves.
In 2003, Janne hung out with Springsteen and his band for the first time, on a tour with seven stops in the Nordics. Since then he has become part of the artist’s and the band’s crew – but he has nevertheless refused to meet “The Boss”.
– It is Nils who has asked if I want to meet Bruce, and then I have said “thanks but no thanks”. He laughed and said he could understand that thing.
Bruce Springsteen during a concert in Gothenburg.
Photo: Jan M Lundahl / Private
Unexpected meeting with Springsteen
Janne Lundahl may never have really met Springsteen – but you can say that Springsteen has met Janne. The meeting happened before a concert in Roskilde in 2012 – because Janne was in the wrong place.
– I had been instructed where to stand and take pictures on stage, but then I stood 20 meters wrong. Just then Bruce comes straight towards me with a smile and I thought: “Now I’m standing in the wrong place”.
– He walks up and says “Hello John, nice to see you. Have a great night”, and off he went. At least he’s cheered me on.
Now Janne is up to date with a book with photos from Springsteen’s concerts: “Last man standing: Bruce Springsteen’s life 1999”. He has been working on the book for several years, but it is not a must for him that it will become a bestseller.
– There shouldn’t be a single side that I don’t stand for. There should be no compromise. If there is any doubt so I remove it. If the book only existed in one copy and stood in my living room, I would have been super satisfied and happy.
– Actually, it is enough that there are four copies: one for me, one for Bruce Springsteen, one for Frank Stefanko and one for Nils Lofgren, says Janne.
Janne says that Bruce Springsteen feels like his “buddy”.
Photo: Jan M Lundahl / Private
The visit to Sweden
For 25 years, Janne has followed Bruce Springsteen at his concerts in the Nordics, but also other parts of Europe and also in the USA. He has only photographed for himself and his friend Nils Lofgren.
Now Springsteen and the E Street Band are back in Stockholm and will play on Thursday evening.
Nils Lofgren and Janne have been heard several times,
– He has called four times now that he has been here and checked that everything is fine. He has had covid and prefers to be at the hotel and rest. Otherwise, I had planned to take him and his wife to Drottningholm, says Janne.
Bruce Springsteen at the National Theater in Stockholm.
Foto: LARS HÖGLUND / EYEWITNESS PICTURES
