Christer Strömholm (1918–2002) was a Swedish photographer widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in postwar European photography. Known for his raw, intimate, and deeply humanistic work, Strömholm developed a signature style that blended gritty street photography with a profound empathy for his subjects. He spent much of his career exploring themes of identity, marginalization, and the hidden layers of society. His most iconic body of work emerged in Paris during the late 1950s and early 1960s, where he lived in the Place Blanche neighborhood of Pigalle. There, he immersed himself in the lives of the transgender women who gathered around the cafés, bars, and streets, forming deep connections that would result in his landmark series "Les Amies de Place Blanche". Many of these women also performed at the famous cabarets Madame Arthur and Le Carrousel, institutions that were central to Paris’s nightlife and to the visibility of transgender performers at the time.

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