det er en merkelig ro over de to personene, et '' fotografen er ikke tilstede'' bilde. Og det liker jeg.

dumt man ikke ser øynene til fyren bedre, spennende at man ikke ser den andre personen så godt.

Ø

Et fint lite øyeblikksbilde dette fra det jeg skjønner var omkring din tid som student. Jeg var vel selv bare såvidt rukket å bli husvarm i barnehagen på denne tiden - men 70-talls-parkstemningen har du jo ivaretatt bra her synes jeg...iallefall slik jeg selv innbiller meg at 70-talls-parkstemning muligens var.

Artig serie du har her - som sagt, imponert over ''holdbarheten'' på meir enn ein måte. Tar du spesielle forholdsreglar når du framkaller så gamle filmer ?
Kjemi, framkallingstid etc. ?

Veldig kjekt å se denne serien din, Kristoffer, fra det året jeg ble født.
Herlig å se en god, ekte hippie-klem ;)
Skulle likt å sett litt mer av ansiktet til den lyse karen ja, men severdig er det uansett.
Mvh Kristel.

Bildet har en historie i seg, og man undres hva som ligger bak denne vennlige klemmen. Fine toner igjen! - Linda

Tusen takk for fine tilbakemeldinger, som jeg setter stor pris på!

Først til Knut-Inge: Jeg gjorde ikke noe spesielt med fremkallingen. I stedet for D-76 brukte jeg imidlertid T-Max fremkaller, noe som trolig har redusert kornstørrelsen noe. Tider og temperaturer ble fulgt som angitt.

Så til bildet. Ja, stemningen er nok 70-talls, men uten at det hviler over bildet i noen ekstrem grad. Disse to var nok ganske mainstream, og vanskelige å assosiere med hippiebevegelsen. Gi herren til venstre en liten hårklipp, og bildet kunne vært tatt i dag. Omtrent slik (mer eller mindre) så vi ut alle sammen, i alle fall de av oss som verken betraktet seg som direkte moteslaver eller raddiser. Hårsveiser som dette, samt trange skjorter med lange snipper (skjortefasongene ''Slim'' og ''Ultra Slim'' hadde sin glanstid) og slengbukser av varierende vidde - var helt vanlig.

Når jeg ser bildet, slår det meg forresten også hvor shabby mange av oss egentlig må ha virket. Også for oss mer ''mainstream'' blandet jo antrekk og utseende seg med opprør og frigjøring. Hår og skjegg fikk vokse mer eller mindre planløst. Og vi brukte meget gjerne disse ''shabby'' antrekkene i situasjoner som tidligere hadde vært betraktet som formelle og dress-krevende. Og fikk kjeft av foreldregenerasjonen, som hyppig brukte ordet ''uflidde'' om oss. I slike stunder følte vi kanskje at ungdomsopprøret ''virket'' ekstra godt for vårt eget vedkommende.

Medvirkende var også det faktum at 60- og 70-tallet virkelig var en opprørets tid. Vestens verdigrunnlag og fundament ble utfordret så det formelig knaket i sammenføyningene - både moralsk, politisk og sosialt. I løpet av 15-20 år ble større samfunnsforandringer igangsatt, enn noen hadde kunnet forestille seg. Slik sett hadde ungdomsopprøret vårt en aldeles utrolig ''drahjelp''...

- Kristoffer

When looking at your most recent postings, I start to realize a strange phenomena, closely related to the very essence of photography – the point when one need to decide to either look on this as an document ( of maybe documentary value ) or as a result of something what comes across as a more dynamic process – a contemporary image – a reflection of ideas, thoughts, technical solutions etc. – we are surrounded by – in a more or less joined fashion.
When trying to comment these images of your film from 1977 – as a viewer we are pushed into a position of a none-participant.
We can reflect to our own analyze of the visible content, we can try to match shown content with own experience, memories ( if possible ) we can add our own thoughts ideas, believes etc. in connection with the show content – but we are forced to a resume – we are not in a position anymore to suggest content related thoughts – since the image is clearly taken in a time – counted in generations already 2 generations away ( as far as I know FN counting – 15 years = 1 generation )

There isn’t really any problem to make a lot of different statements towards these images – there are certainly interesting – they are backed up by a lot of specific, historical knowledge – and for sure also for some of us – connected with personal memories.
It is also possible to enjoy the images, relate to their quality in terms of photographic skills – and it is even possible to develop some curiosity about the quite interesting story of this specific roll of film – and still – I feel in a strange way disconnected.

It is a bit looking trough a paperback with images from that days – they have an exotic appeal due to change “codes” in dressing, fashion, architecture, communication etc.

I guess my approach towards the medium Photo was much more tanned by the understanding developed in the 80’s, when photography was picked up as a medium by many “modern” artists, understanding the challenge of a dynamic development – in creation and response.

To make a long comment short – I partly like the images because of their historical “codes” – but I feel that it is very hard to comments them – since they appear as overly “conserved”.
You are explaining a lot about them – the part I’m missing would be related to your memories about your motivation, intuition – what is it you wanted to document, what did these images mean to you – were you participant, observer or constructing your own sociological ground ?

It is interesting to see these old images in connection with you as a person – even though I start missing your actual work – since this is more reflecting present thoughts.

Hope you understand what I tried to say – it makes somehow sense to me – you ?

Bildet får meg først og fremst til å lure på hvorfor de klemmer hverandre, så sånn sett fremstår det litt spennende i og med at man blir litt interessert i historien bak..

Ellers kan jeg si at det ihvertfall ikke er noen tvil om at du har behersket kunsten å ta bilder i en del år nå :)

-Daniel-

Tusen takk for det, Daniel! Det kan være mange forklaringer på hvorfor de står og klemmer hverandre. Jeg må innrømme at denne gangen husker jeg rett og slett ikke hvem de to var, eller hvorfor de sto som de gjorde. Vi får la spørsmålet stå åpent for tolkning. ;-)


Georg:

Thank you for your long and profound comment!

My personal fascination with these pictures has several reasons. Developing this particular roll of film was like stepping unexpectedly into a time machine. It brought me right back to 1977, and to my exploration of the city I had just moved to. Today, at least to me, it serves as a personal documentary of a time quite different from now, even if it is not that far back. The pictures are far from masterpieces. However, put together, they draw a larger picture of things I saw, walking around in the streets of Oslo these autumn days, breathing in the atmosphere of the big city.

I have always loved the documentary genre, street photography, etc. Many, if not most, of my pictures are documentary, made with no or little artistic pretense at all. Also, when I purchased a film scanner last year, my first project was to scan old slides and negatives that were floating around. Consequently, a large part of the pictures I have posted in here are from the seventies and the eighties. Examples are series like Oslo 1977 - 1982, People and places, Guys and dolls, Good Heavens, and more.

There are no artistic ambitions in most of these pictures, no revolutionary ideas, and probably no intelligent technical breakthroughs, either. Just pure observations, more or less random snapshots; a selection of personal memories re-materializing a long time later.

On a final note. I never really was a darkroom guy. I loved the darkroom, and did okay, but never excelled. Not pretending to excel today either, it has been great fun to process these images digitally, with much better control. I am sure the results are debatable, but at least they are better now than they would have been back in 1977. ;-)

About your questions: I have always wanted to document features of the current time. Sampling specimens - things, people and phenomena surrounding me - helps drawiing a larger picture when put together. What happened then, built the ground for what happens now. What happens now, tells us both about today and the future. Some pictures are just quick, mental notes. But even these, nearly 30 years after, are able to tell us something interesting and useful about what has happened since.

Participant, observer or constructing my own sociological ground? This is a good question. Like the musician watching the drama (or not) down on the dance floor from the distance of the stage, the photographer is also an observer. Some times it would have been even easier if we were invisible. To be a fly on the wall. But then, how fatal wouldn't it be to just observe and not participate! So, like the musician performing on the stage, we must participate in order to photograph. To document today, we have to live today, and to love today. Without participation, no observation. At least, no trustworthy observation. So I guess that I am both, participant and observer. Constructing my own sociological ground? Probably not. But I am occupied by what things mean, in terms of perspective, sociological or otherwise. Hopefully, a few of the pictures are able to tell stories of some substance, that can be put into a perspective. Again, other pictures are just mental notes.

No worries, I will soon be posting new pictures again. Tomorrow, I will be picking up a large batch of developed slide films. I am really looking forward to browsing through them. ;-)

- Kristoffer