Why do some people swim against the current? Why do some turn off their autopilot?
As a journalist and photographer I am interested in ordinary people who lead extraordinary lives, ordinary people who make difficult but rewarding choices. Those people make sense to me, and my work shares a common theme that individuals and communities have the possibility to make mindful decisions. Alone. Together.
I am a storyteller. I was born in Oslo, and now live in Copenhagen, Denmark. Work is wherever I find a thread of a story to unravel.
I studied journalism at the School of Journalism in Volda, Norway and the culture and politics of the Middle East at the University of Oslo. In the university newspaper Universitas, I worked first as a journalist, then editor of the features section. I didn’t get much school work done. After a year as the next-in-command to the editor, I was asked to come and work for the national newspaper VG as a sub-editor for the features section.
Real work, real wages, great colleagues. But working with pictures everyday gave me the urge to pursue photography myself. I attended an exchange program in photojournalism at The Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus, Denmark. It was a great course with amazing teachers and workshops with renowned photographers.
Still I longed for more artistic inspiration. I found that at Fatamorgana The Danish School of Art Photography in Copenhagen. An intense year filled with work around the clock with more inspiring workshops with major photographers from the art scene and docu-world, amazing peers – and German-brewed coffee made by one of the guys.
Working as a freelance writer and photographer based in Copenhagen I started the office collective Mit Nye Hjem together with photographer and writer Hanne Hvattum, writer Boline Skovly and designers Hvass&Hannibal.
“Fyrre tønder land” was my diploma work at the Danish School of Journalism. The book portrays the hippie community Thylejren in northern Denmark.
The last few years I’ve worked for publications such as Oslo Airport’s 360 Magazine and the Norwegian newspapers VG and DN. I have made band pictures and album images for the Danish indie group Twin Twins. I’ve been a member of the Nordic Art Photographers society SHOK and exhibited my work at Andersen Contemporary, Lauritzens Kunsthal and DASK Gallery in Copenhagen.
The spring 2012 I will reside in India for a few months – writing, photographing and investigating the mind and soul of the great mother – as well as my own spirituality. I hope to experience the roots of Astanga Yoga, which I spend a lot of time doing in Copenhagen.
Currently I’m working with Norwegian musician Stina Stjern to plan a major art project we call Kap Herschell. We will investigate the stories of the Norwegian and Danish hunters in Greenland in the early 20th century. An expedition to Greenland, a record, a book and an exhibition will follow.