Astrid Gjersøe Skåtterød
Bård Ek
Charlie Fjätström
Christina Leithe H.
Eirik Knoop
Jói Kjartans
Terje Abusdal
Tor Simen Ulstein
Trude Bekk
Will Vickers
4 degrees warmer
ABC (Artificial Beauty Construction)
No one left to blame / Dear Finnmark
Nordkyn Peninsula
Nights Out
Cars and Houses
Nordlicht
Ytterpunkter og blindveier
Manscape
Some norwegian photographs
Credit: Charlie Fjätström
Issue 4
Issue 4
Image on cover
Charlie Fjätström Älskade Finnmark Hoppas att du har det bra.
”vart är du ifrån då? Jo man märker ju fort när det är någon som inte är från byn som är här”
lever i som är problemet, att uppe hos dig Finnmark så är det väldigt långt till hjälp och det är därför.
Det var så fint att vara hos dig för första gången och se vad alla människor jag mött pratat om, du förstår att här nere i Oslo så är det faktiskt väldigt många som pratar om dig. Jag har hört både fantastiska saker och mindre fantastiska saker om dig, så det var kul att för en gång skull få chansen att hälsa på dig och jag måste säga att jag inte blev besviken inte det minsta.
Här låter de bilarna stå på om vintern när det är för kallt för det är väl ingen som kommer att stjäla den heller, eller som när vi går på café och de säger att det är bara att ta för sig och så berättar man senare i en annan lokal vad man har fikat så betalar man där.
Efter det här besöket så skulle jag inte vilka lägga skulden på dig eller på någon som av de personerna om bor där, kanske det inte är någons skuld eller kanske det är våran skuld tillsammans
Att det första som jag får känna på när jag går av planet är din styrka, snön och vinden yr runt mig jag tappar nästan andan för att du tar i och blåser så hårt. Du vägrar oss tillgång till Ifjord fjället med dina vindar och tvingar oss att övernatta i Tana, om det var ett test eller bara för att reta oss det vet jag inte än idag. Men du är ju känd som en dryg jävel så jag tänker att det var sistnämnda. Men när stormen bedarrat och mörkret lagt sig för en timma eller två får vi dagen efter för första gången får se hur vacker du är och då är allt förlåtet. Det är sant vad de säger om dig stora fjäll, snö så långt ögat räcker och ett landskap jag aldrig sett förut. Vi åker vidare och vi möts folket som har valt att bo i dig, de speciella eller de unika få som har valt att göra dig till sin hemplans och det är inte så många om man ska räkna till hur många som finns på den här jorden, och de är trevliga och vill prata med oss
Det är just på dessa människor jag tänker på när jag är ute och går över Kirkefjellet och tar bilder och det konstigt nog inte för allt det vackra jag har hört om dig som jag har kommit hit, dessvärre är det nog för motsatta. Jag har kommit hit för att förstå hur du behandlar de människor som har valt att bo här. Jag har kommit hit för att jag försöker bli klockare på varför människor begår självmord, jag besöker platser i olika länder där människor i större grad än på andra platser väljer att begå självmord och därför har jag besökt just dig. Här är det alltså vanligare att begå självmord än någon annan plats i Norge, vad kan det bero på? Många tror att det är på grund av mörkret och mörkertiden, andra menar mörkret inte har någon inverkan utan att det i mindre samhällen och byar handlar om självmordvågor, där människor har närmare kontakt med varandra och där det berör många fler personer, så kan ett självmord leda till ett annat. Eller kan det vara så enkelt att det inte är ditt fel, utan att det är den centraliseringen som vi idag
Dear Finnmark I hope that you are good It was so nice to meet you for the first time and see for myself why so many people have so much to say about you, you understand you are quite famous where I live and people have a lot to say about you. I heard a lot of fantastic things about you and some not so fantastic, I was really excited to have the chance to meet you in person, and I didn’t get disappointed at all. The first thing I feel when exiting the plane is your strength, the snow and the wind that blows all around me and it’s so strong that I almost loose my breath. You refuse us access over Ifjordfjellet with your storm and we have to spend the night at a Hotel next to Tana bridge, if it was a test or if you just wanted to bully us I have no idea but I have heard that you are a bit of a wag (character) so I guess it was the second option. When the storm abated and the darkness had gone away for an hour or 2, and I can see your beauty for the first time, everything is forgiven.
It was true what everyone had said about you, big mountains, snow as long as you can see and a landscape that I never seen before.
want to realize why people commit suicide and why they do it more often in some places than other, and that’s why I’m here.
When we drive through you and meet all of the people that took the choice of spending their life in you, the special few or unique few that decided that Finnmark is home.
It’s more common to commit suicide here than in any other place in Norway, why is that?
They are really nice and greet us with open hearts and they talk to you for no reason. “So where are you from?” “Well, you can spot a stranger really fast here” The people that live here leave their car on when they go shopping so it isn´t cold when they get back in the car, they are not afraid of anyone stealing the car, and when you go to a café the waiter tell us that she works in the other shop so we should just take what we want and pay in the other shop when we leave. Its what I think about when I walk across Krikefjellet, these people how nice they are and that they still think that other people are nice, you can call it naivety if you want, but I think it is beautiful.
I have heard that it is because of the darkness, the artic darkness, other people say that the darkness has nothing to do with it, rather that in smaller places people know each other in an other way and everyone knows everyone and care more about each other, so you get a domino effect, where one suicide leads to another. Or is this out of your hands and it has nothing to do with you, maybe it’s the centralization of today that is the problem. That in Finnmark it’s so far to get help and that’s why the suicide rate is higher here than other places. When I went home after my visit to Finnmark and Kjøllefjord I thought that it cannot be your fault nor the peoples fault that suicide rates are so high, maybe its no ones fault or its our fault together. http://www.charliefjatstrom.com charlie@ucsscandinavia.com
I think about them and the reason that I made this trip to Finnmark in the first place, it’s not because of all the good things that I have heard about you, it is unfortunately the opposite. I’m here because I want to understand how you are treating the people that want to live here, I
Bård Ek ABC (Artificial Beauty Construction) Is the beauty of a landscape a construction? Can a constructed landscape become beautiful? My semiotic teacher at art college presented landscape as a man made construction. In photography and even when we look at it. This was in England, I was from Norway and did not
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understand what he ment. More than 20 years later I still reflect upon this question. The last four years I have experimented with constructing beauty in landscape using artificial light. http://www.baardek.com/ baaardek@gmail.com
Issue 4
Issue 4
Will Vickers Without a camera, the eye of the photograph maker must work differently. Often it is not an active choice to be without a camera, especially in the society of today, what with the every-day, mechanised photo-taking that occurs on a global scale – it is rare for any human to be without a camera, whether or not they feel as though they have the right to call themselves a photographer. There are times, at times, when there is not time for the camera to be active, or, in fact, scope for the camera to be able to catch what the eye sees. I have written about the inability for image creation due to the the fact that I got drunk, and left my camera and flashgun out in -15∞C overnight, and was then unable to use the camera for 12 hours as it thawed out. This
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happened whilst on assignment, but luckily it happened before I arrived to the place I was supposed to be photographing: The road between Sjursjok and Ifjord (Fv98) is weather dependent: meaning that if the ice and snow is deep or heavy; it creates treacherous driving conditions on the mountain road. Driving is allowed via three conditions: either totally as normal, totally shut, or if accompanied with a truck, which fitted with a large snowplough on the front that can cut through any particularly dangerous parts. This creates a convoy, as the cars follow the truck, which only departs at certain times through the day: 07:45, 10:30, 14:00, 17:30, 21:45. This safety method (as with many safety or
security precautions) can be limiting. As a part of a group of photographers on a shared commission, it is very natural for someone in the car to suddenly shout: “Stop!” The whole car bundles out and seeks out the ‘interesting’ thing. This is nice, as often one does not have the license to behave in this way when travelling with others who are not so keen on stopping off to make photographs – especially for people who value ‘arriving’ more than the travelling. But when, however, these like-minded souls find themselves in the middle of a convoy, with the convoy mentality, it is not possible to stop for an exploratory moment.
Then, of course, the world becomes the proverbial forbidden fruit: because you cannot take the photograph, you cannot look at the world with the eyes of the photographer. This idea of ‘not stopping’ became wonderfully worthwhile about a third of the way through our journey across this pass, as one of the cars in the convoy managed to slip and slide off the road into a large snowdrift. The convoy stopped, although not easily, and we were able to pull and push the car back onto the road, and order was restored. Safety…
Happily the camera thawed out, but only in time for me to be able to use it after this moment of not being able to use it. http://williamvickers.co.uk/ willvickersphotos@gmail.com
This piece of writing is one of many exercises in futility, as, of course, you will have realised that all of this considering is irrelevant anyway, as even IF we could have stopped, I still did not have a camera to be able to take a picture anyway.
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Issue 4
Issue 4
Jói Kjartans Take me out tonight Where there’s music and there’s people And they’re young and alive Driving in your car I never never want to go home Because I haven’t got one Anymore
Take me out tonight Because I want to see people and I Want to see life Driving in your car Oh, please don’t drop me home Because it’s not my home, it’s their Home, and I’m welcome no more lyrics by The Smiths http://www.joi.is
Astrid Gjersøe Skåtterød Norwegians always prepare themselves, Tom says. Yes, we do, this place is totally out onto the Arctic Ocean so I am not going to climb a mountain without many layers of wool. It was minus 25 Celsius some days ago but a sudden increase in temperatures was the cause of a big storm. At the moment the weather is mild and I don’t need the arctic mittens I brought with me. Tom is an English man but surprisingly enough he is wearing all this wool too. Tom, Trude and me are going up Garterfjellet to explore the wind farm. Last Tuesday I visited a geothermal power plant in Bouillante. I felt like exploring power plants and what a great site this is for a wind farm. The sound coming from the 70m tall towers, or windmills if you like, is
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powerful. An endless syllable coming from all but one of them. Number 13 is being maintenanced. Why I am exploring the power plants is to make sense of “all this”. In earlier projects I have claimed humans to be selfish and addicted to energy. Electricity is a commodity and we are customers complaining about the energy rate although it doesn’t come close to the real cost of our excessive energy use. Instead of using less we find ways to extract more electricity from Nature. Humans are civilized because we go to work everyday, take exams and sign contracts when we fall in love. We have machines that make soft ice! And of course, we all have problems. Someone found it necessary to put up a site www.fixmystreet.com where you can report
problems like a car being left on your street or street lights not working. Unlike ants we have an ego. It takes years and years to build the ego, and you live inside it everyday. It takes a real effort to actually think about anything other than your self. Your self is always your first concern. Because we live inside a bubble, inside a bubble it is difficult for us to look at problems that can occur over a longer period of time.
Charlie Chaplin´s Final Speech in the movie the Great Dictator “..machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”
It is almost impossible to not think about the problems the Earth is facing. It is a fascinating time we are living in, more and more we are predicting the future whether it to be temperatures, sea levels, or plastic in the sea. We pretend to know something about the future. But we do know what brought us here; this is from
We still feel it is our privilege to use this much. There are over 320 million people living in the US, and about as many people in India living without electricity (= basic amenity, a human right?). http://www.astrid-gs.com/ astrid@ucsscandinavia.com www.ucsscandinavia.com
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Issue 4
Issue 4
Terje Abusdal Nordlicht http://www.terjeabusdal.com/ terje.abusdal@gmail.com www.ucsscandinavia.com
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Issue 4
Issue 4
Christina Leithe H. Nordkyn Peninsula, 27012017 ‘fog’ - Europe’s northernmost region on mainland. Next Page: Gamvik 28012017, ‘gressgang for husdyr’ - Gángaviikka gielda, Finnmark. 71°03’56’N http://www.christinaleithe.com/ christina.leithe@gmail.com
Tor Simen Ulstein The wind gusts viciously. The car sways. a small column of locals follows a lorry, plows its way up the sinuous road. The winter darkness presses into the mind. It’s three pm. Pitch Black. The air is so pure the cigarettes burn too fast. I smoke two in quick succession. A small deserted village Kiosk, liquor store, grocery and plumber everything you need, most northern of their kind. The history tells about scorched earth tactics, but there’s no flames, just the harsh wind and freezing cold. Quick and cheap construction. Simple and convenient. Nature scrapes it away from the surface, bit-by-bit. Ifjordfjellet/Kjøllefjord/Gamvik http://www.tsulstein.com/ ts.ulstein@gmail.com www.ucsscandinavia.com
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Issue 4
Issue 4
Trude Bekk I believe that the artist can play an important role as an agent of real world change, specifically in relation to human behaviours adversely affecting the environment today. I continually endeavour to examine the artists role amongst scientists, politicians and activists, asking the question how art can make an impact where others are failing to enact social change. My latest project is ‘Manscape’ where I explore the relationship between the earth and the omnipresence of perspectives pertaining only to the human viewpoint. In this project I’m working with staged photography, and every piece is including one landscape, and one ‘manscape’ picture. I approach different environmental issues like the damaging of nature because of urban living, the change in Norwegian winters because of global warming, and the melting arctic ice. The photos are taken in Kjøllefjord and Grue, Norway, and London, England. www.ucsscandinavia.com
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In Kjøllefjord we were met by majestic nature, tall mountains and a deep blue fjord, but also by temperatures of 4 degrees, melting snow and ice, closed icy mountain roads, rain, and a closed fish factory. In January. In the very north of Norway. In the Arctic. Perfect for the ‘Manscape’ project. Historically, rich nature has been associated with virility, power and attractiveness but the removal of nature by men is not just a modern-day fad. In fact, nature removal has a traceable history that stretches as far back as ancient Egypt (!?) For much of the late 19th century, long grass were en vogue and nature removal was frowned upon. The 1960s were also a major ‘nature milestone’ as hippies let plants of all kinds grow wild, and nature and green chests were signs of eroticism and free love
Today, men and women around the world embrace nature grooming (manscaping) as an essential part of their everyday routines. Once an activity limited to the daily morning shave of the garden, grooming is now about the whole world from east to west. Grooming is a matter of personal preference and men have numerous reasons for trimming or removing nature. For most men, being wellgroomed means being more attractive to possible partners. In addition, men choose to remove nature for hygiene purposes, sporting reasons, to show off their muscles, enhance the appearance of their body shape, for religious reasons, to express their personal style or to be up to date with the trends... trelisbe@gmail.com
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Issue 4
Eirik Knoop Nights Out After months without proper sleep I was looking forward to going up north to maybe get a bit more sleep. I was mainly located in between endless shadows from the encapsulating mountains and the violent gust of wind from the open sea. I ended up with these two pictures, and even less sleep, as I was wandering around with my camera in a hazy state of mind. http://www.eirikknoop.no/ eirik.s.knoop@gmail.com
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Uncertain States Scandinavia is a non-profit lens based artist collective who are passionate in creating, discussing and promoting photography. In this volatile global climate the work reflects some of our current concerns and challenges how perception is formed in our society on issues as diverse as politics, religions and personal identity. For your on-line copy, visit www.ucsscandinavia.com Subscribe to the newspaper at info@ucsscandinavia.com | Follow us on Instagram: ucsscandinavia Uncertain States Scandinavia DA NO 916337027 Edited by Astrid Gjersøe Skåtterød, Tor S Ulstein and Charlie Fjätström. Designed By James Young. Printed by Sharman & Company Ltd, Peterborough.
We welcome submissions from lens-based artists for further publications. For all enquiries please contact info@ucsscandinavia.com
Credit: Jói Kjartans
Lebesby Kommune, Kultur