10 photographers were selected for the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) 2011
The Fritt Ord Foundation and the editorial staff of The Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP) received a large number of excellent applications for inclusion in this first edition of the NJP. To be published in the autumn of 2012 and launched internationally, the book is the result of a process under which the photographers selected for inclusion will be followed up through master classes and personal guidance. The works-in-progress will be available for viewing at www.njp.no. The quality of Norwegian documentary photography has improved dramatically in the past 10 to 15 years, and it is clear that more than these 10 could have been selected. However, these 10 were chosen because we feel that they demonstrate the quality and commitment necessary for such projects over time. At the same time, we have chosen them with a view to this group to a certain extent complementing each other and benefiting from each others’ experience and different approaches. Last, but not least,
these works are in a situation in which the opportunity to break through at the international level will potentially be of great significance.
By publishing the Norwegian Journal of Photography (NJP), the Fritt Ord Foundation, in collaboration with photographers and photo editors Rune Eraker, Laara Matsen and Espen Rasmussen, is establishing a forum for independent documentary photography. The NJP will publish a large-format book that reflects the aim to present the very best of Norwegian documentary photography. This will be an arena where independent photographers who work in the interface between traditional press photography on the one hand and art photography on the other, will be able to present their
projects in their full breadth. This milieu can encourage as well as critique the works. See www.njp.no.
The photographers we selected were:
Andrea Gjestvang
A clear voice and a photographer who has made remarkable progress in the past few years. Gjestvang has a distinctive style: clean and simple, but evocative images featuring powerful moments and fine portraits. Her method of constructing series/reports is coherent and convincing. She has already started on this interesting project. The NJP editorial staff believes that the photographer is involved in a project that has an important story to tell, which will continue to challenge and further develop the photographer.
Eivind H. Natvig
Natvig is a photographer who has demonstrated that he is in the process of developing his own distinctive visual language. He operates in the interface between photojournalism and art photography, and his photos investigate this particular space. The editors believe that Natvig’s project on the subject of Norway could have exciting photographic results, and could serve to enhance the photographer’s further development both as a visual artist and as a storyteller.
Ellen Lande Gossner
Gossner is a personal and enthusiastic storyteller whose project proposal demonstrates that she is a photographer who wants to work within a more clearly delineated framework than the other photographers. She takes her time in approaching a quiet, secluded environment, while her pictures, often taken with a 6×6 format camera, have a direct and easygoing style.
Helge Skodvin
Skodvin has a style and a visual expression that differ from those of the other participants. He has cultivated a distinctive direction in his photography which is thoroughly prepared and well suited to his project. The clean form and keen observations of the pictures emphasise the absurd and humorous qualities of his project. The project idea, which he has already begun to develop, is original, enabling him to view Norway with new eyes.
Ingvild Vaale Arnesen
Arnesen has developed a tough, provocative visual language in black and white, in the border zone between art and photojournalism. Her photographs are intimate and painful, experimental and assertive. She plans to work on a project about teenagers that calls for precisely this closeness to the subjects. The NJP editors believe that her approach to photography will help foster stimulating discussions within the group and serve as an inspiration, at the same time we believe that encountering other styles and approaches will help her to develop further.
Karin Beate Nøsterud
Nøsterud’s photographs are first and foremost very intimate. It is clear that she is very involved with and extremely close to those she is photographing – at every level. In the view of the NJP editors, she has a great strength that is very important. The photographer delivers an impressively strong portfolio; we believe she is eminently well qualified for carrying out such a difficult project.
Linda B. Engelberth
Engelberth’s photographs are close and intimate; as a photographer she is in the process of discovering her own form of expression. She has been working for a long time on a project about the Roma people in Romania and Norway. She gained an unusual degree of access to a relatively closed community that does not ordinarily welcome outsiders. Engelberth is also well on her way to finding her own way to tell stories, which the NJP editorial staff believe offers intriguing opportunities for further growth.
Marie Sjøvold
Sjøvold works with an idiom that clearly draws inspiration from documentary and art photography alike. The editors are fascinated by the way in which she challenges the viewer with her pictures. Her ideas are profoundly personal, and she lets us accompany her into situations and stories that can sometimes feel unpleasant. This is a way of using photography that the NJP feels oversteps the customary borders of the documentary genre, but Sjøvold nevertheless tells an extremely good story with her pictures. Her project is original and provocative.
Monica Larsen
Larsen has demonstrated a strong interest in developing her talents, and has produced a number of excellent photographs that made her project and her portfolio a strong candidate. Larsen’s project made an immediate impression on the editorial staff, and they see it as a fascinating approach to Norwegian society in 2011. She has been working on this project for over a year, and is clearly involved in it on a long-term basis. At the same time she is establishing, with intelligence and insight, a connection between the situation in Norway and that of people and regions on the other side of the world.
Oddleiv Apneseth
Apneseth is one of Norway’s foremost photographers, with a very keen eye for portraying people in their own environments. His pictures have an innate power in their content, composition and journalistic substance. He chooses to work on projects in his immediate vicinity, which presents special challenges, but can also be an advantage in his approach to the stories he tells. His experience, visual language and ability to carry through larger projects have been decisive, and will benefit everyone in the group.
