Friday, 5 April marked the launch of the first edition of the Norwegian Journal of Photography. The book can be ordered online for NOK 399.
The premises of the Fritt Ord Foundation were filled to bursting when the Norwegian Journal of Photography, published in collaboration with the Swedish publishing house Journal, was presented. The stories of each of the 10 photographers who have participated in the project for two years have been given extensive coverage in the nearly 400-page tome.
“We have tried to create a space where the photographers get plenty of room for their stories, without too much interference from editors or others”, stated Rune Eraker, one of the three mentors and editors of NJP, at the launch. Along with Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, he has worked on the project since the beginning.
Photo: Kristine Lindebø
Norwegian Journal of Photography #1 can now be ordered online from the bookshop Tronsmo’s website and from PhotoBookStore.
The book has already received a great deal of attention at the national and international levels alike. The New York Times has published a comprehensive report and Klassekampen has devoted considerable space to the project, as has the daily newspaper Dagbladet .
To Dagbladet, Eraker comments: “We want Norwegian freelancers to have a chance to work more independently of editorial boards and commercial interests, and to have projects that can extend over time.”
Eraker and the two other editors have aspired to create a ‘community’ for those photographers who fall between two stools: “those who work in the documentary genre, but are not affiliated with editorial boards or galleries”, remarks Nina Strand to Dagbladet.
“In Norway, one is often defined as either a photojournalist or an art photographer. That being said, some of the NJP photographers are documentary photographers who move far into the world of art photography. Marie Sjøvold is a prime example. She is currently mainly working with staged projects, aiming her camera at herself and her immediate family. In the NJP project, however, she depicts sleep and the night”, Eraker points out to the newspaper.
Foto: Kristine Lindebø
Following the presentations of the projects on Friday, Helge Skodvin still finds the whole thing a bit unreal. “It feels very good, but it is all so new that I haven’t really had time to absorb it yet”, he says to fotojournalisten.no. “It is a great honour for me to have front cover (of the book, ed. comment). For me, the project has been a combination of a pat on the back and a swift kick, that is, someone who believes in you and something that puts demands on you. It’s been wonderful”, states Skodvin to fotojournalisten.no.
Order The Norwegian Journal of Photography #1 her.
Read more about the launch of the book:
Dagbladet (NO) – “Can these photos redefine the concept of documentary?”
Fotojournalisten.no (NO) – “First Norwegian Journal of Photography launched”
New York Times – “Norway’s New Photographic Landscape”
Photography magazine (NO) – “Norwegian Journal of Photography”
Photography magazine (NO) – “A quantum leap for Norwegian documentary photography”
