Opened up some random folders. Found this… from seven years ago… it’s a strange, sweet feeling to realise how long I’ve been doing this. Nine years of photography. Some more successful than others. Lots of searching for whatever could be my “voice”. Still searching for it. Both by looking back and looking around me in the everyday life. And once in a while I find a photo from way back which seems to connect with me. It’s hard to describe what makes it do that and explain why some photos have that ability, and not others. But that’s the big task for every photographer I guess. To take and find those photos which pops out, communicates and means something to someone. If a photo means something for only the photographer, then it has achieved something. But hopefully by sharing them they will start mean something to other people as well.
I think many parents can relate to the fact that pictures of their children serve a special cause. As a parent there are a lot of up’s and down’s, and after a lot of down’s (baby screams during a difficult napping, for instance) it’s good to look back at the up’s (precious moments from the allotment, for instance). It reminds me that the sweet up’s weigh heavier than all the down’s. It reminds me that it’s totally worth it.
Update to this post (June 30 2016): Added 5 photos.
There are some things I miss about living in Norway. One of those are celebrating the national day. What I particularly like about it is that it’s popular not only among adults, but among children and youths as well. It’s not often you get to see people from all ages gathered together voluntarily, but on this day you do. When school classes, teams, organizations and unions are parading through the streets most people goes out to watch and look for people they know. Many people wear traditional folk costumes and most areas in Norway have their particular kind of costume. Besides all the parades – which is the main thing – it’s a day for school games, good food, socializing, endless cake eating and coffee drinking.
This is a photo which won’t fit into the “Go to sleep Lydia” project obviously, but I think you can tell it’s taken during the same period. Playing around with different light sources. Trying to see the world through her curious eyes. It’s helping me to stay curious as well.
One of those photos I think will mean a lot to me in 10 years. Even more in 20 years. And so on.
Keep taking pictures [Bjarte]. Not so much for the sake of the present, but for the sake of the future.
Lydia gave me an idea. She’s been showing great interest for a red flashlight which has been laying around in our bedroom. So also tonight during bedtime.
We might continue play around with it when it’s bedtime. I’m curious to see how this will develop.
This is a photo which is very special to me on several levels.
The person through that opening was at the time my girlfriend whom I had known for some months. Now my wife.
The river you’re looking at was at the time just some river. Now the main view from where I’m sitting right now.
The village you see there a bit hidden in the background was an unexplored place to me. Now my home.
So, this photo illustrates the starting point for the biggest change in my life. The year after this photo was taken I moved from Norway to Sweden for the sake of love. Pretty much everything which has happened after this moment I can relate back to this photo. It’s where my new life started.
I have 12 photos stuck on my wall right now. This is one of them. I’ve gathered and edited photos in the hope I might find a project in there somewhere. It’s often like that. I shoot whatever is going on my life and then try to find connections between the various moments. Most of the prints I have are from 2009-2010. During that period I was good at editing the archive and getting 10x15cm prints for editing. Small prints are great when you’re working on a project. Put them on your table, on your wall, on the floor. Get an overview, move them around, remove some, keep some. Sleep on it, return to it, live with it. It’s just much harder to do that kind of work on a computer.
Är det lättare eller svårare att fotografera sina närmaste? Det är både ock tycker jag. Det är lättare för att de givetvis inte är särskilt svåra att få tag på. Lättare också för att man redan har en koppling vilket underlättar för kommunikationen under fotograferingen. Vad är det då som kan göra det svårare? Det är svårare för att familjen och de nära vännerna är så bekanta att det kan vara en utmaning att anstränga sig tillräckligt. Ungefär på samma sätt som det kan vara utmanande att försöka “se” sina närmaste omgivningar för att de är så bekanta för en. Continue Reading…
Idag vill jag ge dig en inblick i Stellan och Maud Strands vardag på deras gård i Västra Spöland. Stellan är uppvuxen på gården och har bott i Västra Spöland hela sitt liv. Gården började med 2 djur för över 200 år sedan och har utvecklats till dagens gård med 87 djur. Gården har alltid bedrivts ekologiskt av Stellan och Maud, men blev certifierad som ekologisk först på senare tid. Continue Reading…
