Tracing refugee spaces on a Greek Island
Photographs from Lesvos, 2024 (ongoing photo/writing project)

​It is soon ten years since the “refugee crisis”, or what has been called the “long summer of migration”. Europe had been taken by surprise in 2015 when over one million people – primarily from Syria but also from other countries in the Middle-East and Africa – arrived in search of safety. The island of Lesvos had become flooded with refugees as well as volunteers from all over the world who wanted to make a difference and lend a welcoming hand to those who arrived by sea. For a while, the world media was also there – before other spectacular catastrophes prompted attention elsewhere. Undeniably, an implicit ranking of disasters is always at play in reporting. Few stays beyond the decisive moment. No doubt, there are fewer refugees who now cross the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greek islands like Lesvos in search of safety in a Europe that becomes more and more restrictive to people fleeing war and other catastrophes. But they still risk their lives when crossing in inflatable rubber dinghies. The following photographs from Lesvos are taken in the shut-down Pikpa and Kara Tepe camps, including Sanatorio, in the burnt down Stage 2 and Moria camps as well as outside the Closed Controlled Access Centres of Mavrouvouni and Vastria – the latter in the process of being built in the middle of a protected pine forest. Shipwrecks, just arrived dinghies and abandoned life vests also constitute traces of flight scattered along the island’s shores. 

Artist book: (In)decisive moments
Self-portraits before and beyond the selfie

Picture
​In this artist book (2021) with self-portraits that span four decades, I investigate the link between a particular state of mind and appearance in a photograph. The camera is held at an arm-length while I relate to the camera through eye-contact. In these moments of solitude, a state of presence is sought for – likewise emotional equilibrium. However, the expressions in these images range from aesthetically appealing to non-flattering – even appalling. Attempting to be ruthlessly honest, this book also represents a comment on the current selfie trend where the opposite is commonly at issue.

See a short presentation of the book here

​Available from Tekstalmenningen ​

The Travelling Self
Artist presentation at the international seminar SELF | IMAGE | PUBLIC. Oslo & Horten, 2016


​Mothers & Daughters

​The aim of this art project is to describe some of the unspoken tensions that might exist between a mother and her daughter. Asking actual mothers and daughters to pose side-by-side, further instructions as to how was not provided. This photographic situation creates an atmosphere of uncertainty where tensions surface. Their facial expressions and body-language tell about likenesses and differences, intimacy and opposition as aspects of this complex family relation. I do not however claim to reveal some sort of truth about a particular mother-daughter relation. First of all I want to challenge an ideal image of the mother and daughter as it is produced and reaffirmed in private as well as studio photographs, by enhancing rather than glossing over potential conflicts.

Evocative Encounters: Ethiopia

As much as I had imagined the photographs I wanted to take in Ethiopia in advance, the people I met had their own ideas about how to be represented that eventually shaped these images. The Tigrayan landscape at hand served as a convenient "studio" backdrop for their self-(re)presentations.

Reisen/The journey

Den blå timen/The blue hour

Utstilling i Fotogalleriet
Tema: "Om frihet" fra Profeten av Kahlil Gibran

"I sannhet, alt beveger seg i deg selv i et evig fullkomment favntak, det du ønsker og det du frykter, det du avskyr og det du setter høyt, det du forfølger og det du flykter fra. Alt dette beveger seg inni deg som lys og skygge, parvis filtret sammen. Og når skyggen viskes ut og forsvinner, vil lyset som står igjen, bli skygge for et annet lys. Og slik skjer det at friheten, når lenkene er fjernet, selv blir lenken om en større frihet" (Kahlil Gibran, 1923).

Se omtale av utstillingen her

Unfocused