Inger Marie Grini

Interior photography in search of calm and balance.

An established freelance photographer based in Oslo, Inger Marie Grini works on commercial and editorial projects. Her focus is interior photography.

Inger Marie Grini’s passion for photography began when she received her first compact camera as a child. Soon after, she had the opportunity to work at Afterposten—Norway’s largest printed newspaper—as part of a week-long work placement program in school. She was instantly hooked, and at the age of fifteen, she joined an evening photography course to pursue her newfound passion.

Fast forward to today and you’ll find Inger Marie working at her desk in her studio at Vøienvolden Gård in Sagene, often listening to podcasts and the radio while editing. That’s where she is when we catch up with her.

What’s the most exciting project that you have ever worked on?

“It has to be photographing Under, the world’s largest underwater restaurant in Lindesnes, for Hamran Snekkerverksted and Bo Bedre—before it opened its doors to the public,” Inger Marie says. “At Under, that’s probably when I felt most out of my comfort zone, as the light in the restaurant came filtered through green sea water—so all the photos came out green.”

“Getting people to respect your craft and copyright is hard.”

Yet, she says, part of the challenge of being a photographer is that you can’t always control your surroundings.

“Of course, you can improve things in postproduction, but a big part of everything is also luck! Ultimately, after that shoot, I couldn’t believe it when Snøhetta called and said they couldn’t send their press release without some of my images. After that, all of a sudden, my pictures appeared all over the world—in Wallpaper, The Wall Street Journal, Dezeen, The Guardian, Vogue, everywhere!”

As a full-time photographer for the past sixteen years, Inger Marie has worked with big design names such as Hamran, Røros Tweed, Tonning & Stryn, Fram Oslo, and Buene—in addition to working with Bo Bedre Norge for over thirteen years. Yet, Inger Marie doesn’t have one favourite image from this time. Rather, she appreciates any image that makes her feel calm and in balance. She sees some amazing homes and cabins in her work and believes that images often need to be together to tell their full story. That said, she admits the feature she completed of Bygdøy Allé for the September issue of Bo Bedre Norge is her current favourite.

And her favourite location to photograph? Inger Marie says that getting to shoot in places where architects and interior architects have been involved is a dream come true. “Their way of using materials and working with the light makes all the difference.”

When considering her biggest challenges, Inger Marie says that while the demand for photography is greater than ever, the supply of photographers is also rapidly increasing. Anyone can become a photographer these days, and there are an infinite number of unprotected images out there. “Getting people to respect your craft and copyright is hard.”

That said, Inger Marie is grateful that she’s able to do the work she does—and she hopes to continue making a living as a photographer for years to come.

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