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I became interested in photography quite early, as a teenager. I grew up in a small town in Norway and so the local library only had a few photography books, and mostly in the ”how to take great photographs” section. But, if I heard about a book I wanted to read, the librarians would do their best to get hold of a copy from the central library in Oslo. So, slowly, I started to learn about the work of the great and pionering masters like Lartigue, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson, Klein and Frank. |
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Next Summer-H. K. Riise
I became interested in photography quite early, as a teenager. I grew up in a small town in Norway and so the local library only had a few photography books, and mostly in the ”how to take great photographs” section. But, if I heard about a book I wanted to read, the librarians would do their best to get hold of a copy from the central library in Oslo.
So, slowly, I started to learn about the work of the great and pionering masters like Lartigue, Kertesz, Cartier-Bresson, Klein and Frank. Similarly, I can remember very clearly the sensation of seeing their images for the first time.
Photography was always something I had to find more about, to explore and to try and do at least half as well with the camera myself.
During the early years I worked exclusively in black and white. Similarly, when I came back to Oslo in 1998, after a year as a student at ICP in New York, I continued for some time to work in this limited color scheme.
But, ultimately, I wasn´t happy with the black and white pictures I took in Norway during that period. There is a different pace in Oslo. Compared to the busy, energetic and entertaining streets of New York, Oslo is much slower and, quite simply, more boring. In this way, I always felt like I needed more information in the images.
For a while there, around the year 2000, my life seemed to be standing still. For this reason, I felt a strong need to learn more about moving images.
I decided to go to film school to study cinematography. For three years, I hardly touched a still photographic camera.
In film school, I shot fiction films on color negative film. And, when I started doing still photography again, color had become an integrated element within my aesthetic.
Also, it´s actually impossible not to want to shoot in color when you have seen the opening sequence of David Lynch’s Blue Velvet at least one hundred times, as I had.
For some strange reason, taking pictures of women and children in public spaces is considered an activity almost dirty and perverse. So, in order to make the kind of photographs I like, I have to push the limits of what is socially acceptable when photographing strangers in the streets of Oslo. This might not even be something people think about or notice when they see my images, but, in Norway, people are very self-conscious and suspicious towards cameras.
This has affected my shooting style a good deal since I have to make fast decisions and move in and out of situations very quickly. I also have to develop photographing techniques so that people can’t tell what I’m really doing.
Sometimes it´s frustrating, but I also like this aspect of my work. It creates a certain energy and excitement while I’m shooting. Hopefully, this is visible in my photographs as well.
My latest series from Oslo is called ”Next Summer.” In Oslo, since everybody knows the fall and winter is going to be long, dark and cold, when summer finally arrives and the sun never seems to go down, the streets, the parks, the gardens and the backyards come alive.
For a few months, people try to leave work as early as possible, to stay outdoors as much as possible and to sleep as little as possible
During this time, I attempt to collect images and memories that will get me through the long winter. These will be the images I look at while I’m patiently waiting for the next spring and summer to, finally, arrive.
