i have moved

I guess it took me a while to realize that i wasn’t able to keep up two blogs at the same time. So. That’s why I haven’t been here for quite a while, and I’m sorry, truly sorry about that.

But.

You can still follow me on my other blog, it’s primarily written in Norwegian, but I translate all my entries to English as well (this sounds like a lot of work, but hey, i want to write in Norwegian, and at the same time I want all my English-reading friends to read it, so what other choices do i have.)

So: http://minsakalteblogg.wordpress.com it is.

I would be very happy if you drop by once in a while.

secret of the week

(from postsecret.blogspot.com. Click on the image to go there.)

———————————————————–

(For you Norwegians, I also have a new blog now, a more personal one than this – sometimes the things that need to be said have to be said in my own language. Click here to go there. )

more than nothing

(From the exhibition "More than nothing," photo by Marcel Leliënhof.)

I have always wondered how my life would have been if I couldn’t see. If everything was dark, always. Would I make it, in my everyday life? Would I manage to go between places, without seeing where I am?

Sometimes I try to imagine, by closing my eyes. But of course, it never works out. Because when the difficulties start, I can just open them again.

But not everyone can do that, and Thursday a photo exhibition will open in Oslo, showing what it’s like to have an impaired vision. 18 photographers have taken part in the exhibition, and some of the photos are published in this article by the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.

And they opened my eyes.

Because according to the article, almost everyone with an illness affecting the eyes see something, in one way or another. While some see the world as a tunnel, where only the centre is visible, others just have a dark spot in the centre, while the surrounding things are visible.

The photo above is taken by Marcel Leliënhof, and he has focused on an illness affecting the retinal. Imagine that everything you try to focus on are moving, like waves, all the lines are blurry and bent.

I guess I would have gone mad.

But the photo is a good one, and I’m definitely going to experience the whole exhibition someday soon.

secret of the week

(click on the image to visit postsecret.)

in need of distractions

(screenshot of Heiko Waechter's website. click on the image to go there.)

I have to admit that I do spend must of my time thinking, dreaming, fantasying about Thailand these days. About the big step.

But sometimes I need to get my mind over on something else. To kill some of the butterflies inside me. To relax.

And the only way to kill my butterflies is to distract them. Or to distract me, may be.

Anyway, some weeks ago, I found this amazing photoblog by Heiko Waechter. Today I finally got the chance to look at every single photo he has posted, and I just have one thing to say.

He simply takes my breath away.

I love his angles, the way he focuses on details, the mood in his photos.

The way he combines his photos with a few words, a title, straight to the point. He makes me smile, laugh, think.

He himself says this about his work:

I like taking photos of the urban environment, the spaces and structures that form the stage, and the people and objects that bring it to life. I tend to focus on details, rather than the full picture, seeking order in chaos, and beauty in the mundane.

It was through the following photo I discovered Heiko Waechter. This one was published at FWAPhoto the 12. of August, and both the shoes,the colours, the light, and of course the angle caught my attention.

What do you think?

(screenshot of Heiko Waechter's website. Click on the image to go there.)

the big step

(photo by Nareas Sae-Khow. Click on the image to visit his flickr-stream.)

So, it’s finally for sure.

I’m moving to Thailand. Bangkok. For two years. It’s actually so big that it deserves capital letters.

BANGKOK. TWO YEARS.

I got the message yesterday, both me and my boyfriend is accepted as students at Chulalongcorn University. So from November on, we will be master students at an international program called Southeast Asian studies.

In to weeks we’re on our way, for vacation, for apartment-hunt, for fun.

I guess it feels both exciting and scary, two years is a long time.

But most of all, I can’t wait.

To live in a city that never falls a sleep. Lights. People. Food. To live by the river with a pool in my backyard. Or on the roof. Travel, to the east, to the south. Beach. Sun. Water.

No, I can’t wait.

secret of the week

(click on the image to visit postsecret.)

to the mountains

So, I’m heading for the mountains today. Me and my boyfriend are on our way to Hovden, where my family has a cabin, and I can’t wait. Fishing, swimming, hiking, good food, beers and wine.

Perfect.

That means that there will be no more blogging here until Sunday. Cheers.

the pleasure of discovering something new

(from Kjell Ivar Lund's website. Click on the image to go there.)

I love the feeling I get when I discover something new – a new musician, a new writer, a new band. Or, as in this case, a new photographer.

Today was the last day of Risør International Festival of Photo, and I finally got the chance to walk from gallery to gallery, looking at the most extraordinary work of some of the greatest photographers in Norway, and also some big, international artists.

(Roger Ballen. Neo Ntsoma. Jim Bengston, Dan Young, Jamie Parslow. Just for the sake of namedropping.)

But I think the photographer who’s work impressed me the most, was Kjell Ivar Lund, a 37 years old Norwegian chef, musician, student, economist and photographer.

As a student at Bilder Nordic School of Photography, he has taken part in a project where the objective was to capture the life on schools in six countries widespread over the world. These photos were amazing, but even more amazing was the work Kjell Ivar Lund has done by himself.

As a photographer with a special interest in music, he has cooperated with the gituarist in the Norwegian metal band Dimmu Borgir. After reading the lyrics and listen to the songs, he has taken photos describing his impression of the music.

The results is absolutely magnificent.

Raw, brutal, controversial. Scary. Dark. The dark side of humanity. Absolutely amazing.

Unfortunately, the photos is not on his website yet, so today’s picture is another one by him. As you can see, Kjell Ivar Lund is a talented nature photographer as well.

the secret of the week

(click on the image to go to postsecret)