Emil Sollie

Photography born of a passion for action sports

32-year-old Emil Sollie’s journey in photography was born from his desire to capture surfing and snowboarding through a lens. Thanks to his innovative methods and his commitment to astonishing images, his work is finding an eager global audience.

Emil Sollie’s passion for photography goes hand-in-hand with his love for surfing and snowboarding. Rather, it was from his love for these sports that his commitment to photography was born.

“Few have the opportunity to surf large hidden waves, ride steep mountain slopes, or base jump surrounded by insane nature,” Emil explains when we talk to him. “But I want to capture these incredible sports and incredible places in a different way.”

Emil gives an example of how he uses innovative photographic techniques to tread new ground in extreme sport photography.

“Five years ago, I had the idea to photograph a surfer under the northern lights in Lofoten. After a lot of planning, I managed to get Red Bull on board with the project, which in turn brought one of its athletes, Mick Fanning—the Australian world surfing champion—to fly up to the north and join us.”

To bring this photo of Fanning beneath the aurora borealis into existence, two different images are required—one with a short shutter speed to freeze the movement of the surfer, and one with a long shutter speed to capture the northern lights. Emil tested a photo technique that he had not seen anyone use before, in which he froze the movement of the surfer with a flash during prolonged exposure, in order to capture the image in one take.

The result was exactly what he had imagined, yet the public interest in the image perhaps wasn’t. The photo not only went viral on social media—but it was also featured by major news sources such as The New York Times, The Guardian, Discovery Channel, and the BBC.

But Emil’s life can’t all be adventure, can it? “A normal day is anything but typical,” Emil says. He travels a lot, working on many different projects at a time—many of which are season-dependent. One day he could be photographing surfers on the beach at sunrise—and the next he could be strapping on his splitboard to find the best snow. That said, Emil also has office days where he wakes up at a normal hour, makes a double espresso, and cycles to the Grünerløkka office space.

For many years, Emil was a Nikon ambassador, and he still shoots with the Nikon Z7ii today. His favourite lens is the Sigma Art 50mm F/1.4, preferably with the pola-filter, and he most often edits his photos in Adobe Bridge. Yet, one element of his style has changed. While in the early days, Emil was inspired by other snowboard photographers— he liked to create his own scenes with his own light using lots of flash and colours—over time he has moved toward the simple and natural, and toward moody, Nordic styles.

Two projects stand out in Emil’s mind when asked about his favourite project. The first is the photoshoot with Mick Fanning in Lofoten. “That remains my favourite photo to this day,” he says.

But the second is an art project he did with Samsung to showcase The Frame TV. He was the first photographer from Norway whose photos were uploaded to Samsung’s Art Store on The Frame, so they had an exhibition to showcase this. Today, the only artists from Norway available on the Art Store are Emil and Edvard Munch.

That means that anyone who has the television anywhere in the world can display his photos on their wall. “I’m very interested in design and interior, so this was right up my alley.”

The next big project for Emil is a trip to Iceland with surfers and a film crew for an exhibition in 2022. But his advice to aspiring photographers? Take as many pictures as possible, never say no to a job, and have fun.

Instagram / @emilsollie emilsollie.com

194 Localfolk Norway