Born Marianne Hederström in Gällivare Lappland 1916, brought up in Kiruna and Skellefteå in Sweden.
The girl from the Far North who became photographer, author, world
citizen and connoisseur of the art of living.
"The greatest art is the art of living!" This is the
description the American author Anaïs Nin gave of her
friend Marianne Greenwood: "Marianne is the eternal vagabond. She is
restless in big cities and she is always dreaming of far away places.
She got a rare gift for friendship, not only for natives whose
language she does not speak, but all who she temporarily pays visits
to around the world. People just love to receive her. She is a
wonderful storyteller. Listeners will be taken as by the wind to and
fro - and will experience colours, smells and adventure - even
without seeing the rich photographic material from alla her travels.
The greatest art is the art of living, says Marianne"
Just before the end of the War Marianne moved to Stockholm and the
art school of design. After various jobs one as draftsman she moved
to Switzerland and the hotel school in Lausanne. After a Paris
sejour she went to Antibes in France, where she lived seven years in
the Musée Picasso. Here she became the "in-house
photographer" for the collection of the museum but she also
portrayed Picasso and his wife Francoise Gilot and
visting friends as Matisse, Chagall, Miró och Leger. In her
sphere of friends there were also actors as
Simone Signoret and Yves Montand as well as poets
as Andre Verdet. The sculptor
Gerard Lanvin was one of closest friends.
To and from Marianne also worked in Sweden with the film directors
Alf Kjellin and
Lars-Magnus Lindgren.
At this time she also began a long friendship and co-operation with
Evert Taube - the troubadour today regarded as a national
poet of Sweden. He stayed for long period in Antibes. Together they
roamed the Camarque in Southern France. During several decades she
lived together with the ingenous people in the Americas, the Pacific
Islands, in Papua New Guinea and parts of Asia.
Marianne has contributed with her texts and photos in books and
magazines in France, Germany, the United States, Sweden and
other countries. Her own books has been published in several
countries.
Marianne has received the 2005 Lifetime Achievement Award
by the Wingsquest Foundation in New York. The Evert Taube foundation
has awarded her the 1984 Sjösalapriset.
Marianne's life ended 2006 in her beloved Antibes.