It all starts with an idea!

Andreas Palmén grew up in Junsele, Upper Ådalen. He feels at home in the forests and mountains of northern Scandinavia. Today Andreas lives with his family in Umeå.

It all started with an old Kodak Instamatic as a child. The rest is history, so to speak. Growing up, his interest in photography increased and more cameras followed. Andreas Palmén got his first apprenticeship after graduating from photography school in Hemse, Gotland. He then worked as a photographer's assistant in Stockholm for studio photographer Christer Carlson. Product photography, lighting against a backdrop and working with large format cameras and darkroom work. Later he became a photo assistant to one of Sweden's best portrait photographers - Jonas Fredwall Karlsson, before Karlsson's move from Stockholm to New York and Vanity Fair. The portraits were often lit in the same spirit as Annie Leibovitz, which meant that the studio was moved "on location". Palmén worked with Karlsson in various locations throughout Sweden and the United States for two years, mainly on large portrait shoots for lifestyle magazines and commercial assignments. As an assistant, Palmén was responsible for setting up lights, keeping photographic equipment in order, and making copies in the color photo lab. This was an incredibly intense period for Palmén, who learned a lot about portraiture and the use of studio lighting both in the studio and on location.

After a few hectic years in Stockholm, Palmén decided to pursue one of his other major interests: biology and science. He left Karlsson's studio to study biology and take an MSc in population genetics and conservation biology at Stockholm University. Palmén continued as a PhD student with research studies in population biology at Södertörn University and Uppsala University, Sweden's oldest university.

After over 10 years in academia, Andreas Palmén followed his heart and returned to photography. Now the focus is mainly on fine art and scientific photography, but Palmén also takes on other assignments, both commercial and editorial.

In 2023, Andreas Palmén was accepted as a member of KKV Härnösand, a collective workshop for professional artists with, among other things, access to graphic printing, analog darkroom work and digital large format printing. In 2023, he also became a member of Grafikmaskinen, an artist-run graphic workshop in Umeå.

Andreas Palmén is a member of Svenska Fotografers Förbund (SFF).