PICTURES OF NORWAY

Among the Stones

Stony Norwegian coast with countless shapes and textures

PHOTOGRAPHY PROJECT · THE JOURNEY TO AN IMAGE

At first glance, a stony beach looks like one great jumble. Thousands of stones lie side by side, shaped by water and smoothed by time. From a distance, they merge into a grey surface. Only when I slowed down and looked more closely did this apparent chaos begin to resolve.

Suddenly I could see colours, lines, and small encounters. An orange stone among dark grey ones. Unassuming groups that seemed to have found one another by chance. With my camera, I wanted to move between two ways of seeing: the beach as a landscape and the tiny discoveries that only become visible up close.

The film behind the photography project

In the film, I show my journey through the landscape and how the photographs came into being.

The photographic challenges

Order in Apparent Chaos

The abundance of shapes and colours was the biggest challenge. Instead of simply photographing a surface covered in stones, I wanted to discover subtle patterns: repetitions, contrasts, individual striking stones, and small groups that form a composition together.

Moving Between Landscape and Detail

The series needed to show the character of the entire beach while also telling of small discoveries. I had to move deliberately between wide views and close details without turning them into two unrelated photographic series.

Images from the project

These photographs show just how much there is to discover when we are willing to stop and look at the unremarkable things.

Stony coastline disappearing into the sea beneath a heavy sky
Stony Shoreline. Countless stones form a coastline that slowly disappears into the sea. Beneath the heavy sky, the landscape seems quiet and unremarkable, giving little hint of how much there is to discover between the individual stones.
Colour and texture variations in a beach full of stones
A Variety of Stones. From a distance, they merge into a single surface. Only up close do their differences emerge: colours, shapes, and traces that make each stone something of its own.
Warm orange stone standing out among muted grey beach stones
The Outlier. Among all the muted colours, a single stone is enough to hold the gaze. Its warm colour sets it apart from the others. A small outlier amid an apparent uniformity.
Two rocks standing in the surf with moving waves around them
Two Rocks in the Surf. Two rocks stand motionless in the water while the surf washes away its traces around them. For a moment, a peculiar calm emerges between movement and permanence.
Expanse of closely packed grey stones on a Norwegian beach
Sea of Stones. Stone by stone, the gaze drifts into the distance. What looks like a single grey surface from afar becomes, at this distance, a landscape of shapes, colours, and traces.
Small patterns and coloured details among larger beach stones
Among the Stones. The closer you look, the more the beach loses its uniformity. Small forms, colours, and structures appear among the larger stones. A world of its own, visible only when you take the time to see it.

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