(2022-)
Summers in Norway are short and precious. The weather is often only medium good, and when it is hot enough, Norwegians more often than not will let everything fall to the ground and enjoy summer instead. But most of all, summers are unpredictable, and as we never know what the summer will give, and how to get the most of it, the summer is in a way a project in itself.
Although summer is often enjoyed in private spaces, as is life all through the year, this project is mainly about public spaces. As suggested by the sudden energy given to us by the wonders of summer, I wanted to focus on leisure and energetic outbursts of life, often in interactions with nature, as well as on the quietude of evenings a little bit to chilly to enjoy outdoors.
I partly owe the inspiration for this project to Chanel Irvine and her wonderful book An English Summer. Although some of the images which were the beginning of my project, were made before I became aware of Chanel Irvines project and got my own copy of her book, I think the idea of her book was what made me realize that I could regard those first images as the start of a larger series of work, and maybe even make whole project out of it; A Norwegian Summer or just The Summer Project.
I did not want to make a Norwegian copy of Chanel Irvines project,for sure, and I do not strive to make a full documentary on all aspects of summers in Norway. Not at all. I decided to consider this a very loose task and to just follow the inspiration and the idea openly, and without preconceptions, in whichever direction it might take me, within the wide concept of summer and how it presents itself, year after year. As it turns out, the direction it seems to take, and which I follow, is a a direction pointing more towards the way I, myself, prefer to enjoy the summer; in moments of quiet solitude.
This is a project in progress, it might take many summers yet.
© Anette Nordskog