Oyvind Hjelmen

"The quiet photographs made by Oyvind Hjelmen are intimate philosophical explorations of time, memory, history, loss, (photography itself), and more. Over the past decade, this Norwegian photographer has covered many genres: some staged, some documentary, some merely beautiful celebrations of light and nature.
In this series, he documents the last bits of once-prized possessions in an old house, as the house is gradually emptied after the person who lived there has died.
Hjelmen says, “These images are about what happens when a house that was home to a family for several generations, one day is being cleared out to be sold. What is left when all the little objects, once so precious, and all the pictures that were on the walls are gone? What stories do the empty – or near empty – walls tell? What is left in an empty room?”
These moody photographs are not necessarily melancholy, nostalgic, or romantic. Rather, they demonstrate a peaceful, hushed acceptance and mute wonder at how things come and go in the world.
The manner with which Hjelmen chooses to share these images with us is equally thoughtful and deliberate. The relatively small square photos (12 x 12 cm) invite an intimacy with the viewer. Each masterly printed black-and-white photograph can be held in the hand like a small fragile bird, and viewed with a sense of wonder at the delicate richness of detail and the beauty of imperfections.
These are images of abandoned spaces — once alive, but now, in these precious hand-held testaments to memory, quiet and still, but never empty.
The photos reverberate with a visual language of archetypes, memories and dreams. Hjelmen is a master of letting light do its job in photography. The flat, even, wintry window-light evokes a sense of stillness and quiet in this inner architecture. It brings to mind the dimming of life, and the diminished light of memory. The light of dreams is here as well, with objects like a old hockey stick and a chipped mirror looming out at us from inside a nearly empty unlit closet.
These are not quick and easy photos to appreciate, but they are rich and rewarding. Spend some quiet time alone with these photographs, and allow them to speak with you. I believe you will be enriched by the experience."

new images

Todd Hido

I'm really intrigued by Todd Hido's work. I had been familiar with his photographs of houses at night, but am much more interested after hearing him speak about them. the way that he photographs them transforms them from simply being a house on the street, to being a home with people living and moving on the inside. the small glimpses that he gives us of human life- a light on or a flickering television- bring so much life into the work and keep the viewer engaged.
I was not familiar, however, with any of Hido's other work before the lecture. I really took to his landscapes. they are really just the type of work that I am drawn to, especially his use of water on glass or other ways of photographing that add a similar romantic feel. Although, I related to his work more so when he spoke of childhood photographs, his family and the home and small town that he grew up in, and how they all influence his work today. I have a lot of the same thoughts about my own work, but he was able to explain it in a way that made so much more sense to me.
I enjoyed all the work shown by Hido, but none so much as his most recent portraits. I loved to hear him speak about the shitty instant camera he was using during the photoshoots, and getting a completely different aesthetic than any of his previous work. Where his large format film was expensive and saved for what he thought were his best shots, the childhood camera he used in between those shots produced something that I thought was much more refreshing and obviously less staged and meticulously thought out than his other work.

kitchen tables

more Chris Verene- another look at kitchen tables and how things in our houses speak to the culture. Verene's table focuses specifically on the mess and what is actually inside the house and on the table/in the kitchen. Maybe it's just because I come from the world of rural homes and kitchen tables myself, but I can look at this photograph and see the area itself. to city-dwellers, kitchen tables are just kitchen tables.