Rune Johansen is one of eight photographers whose work is presented on the portal Norway - the official site. The photographs have been selected by Preus Museum, Norway's national photography museum. Fragments of a total of 40 photographs are shown in the top field of the portal. If you click on these pictures you will get up information on the photographer and his or her photographs that are shown elsewhere on the portal. The project gives Norwegian photographers an opportunity to show their work to a wide audience all over the world.
Biography
Rune Johansen was born in Bodø in 1957. He is self-taught. He lives and works in Oslo and Steigen. For the last 15 years he has worked with North-Norwegian interiors, portraits and landscapes. He received the government’s guaranteed income for artists in 2004. He has had a number of exhibitions and commissions. His works have been purchased by most of the Norwegian public art institutions.
The Lofoten Mountains
“The house is on the island of Engeløya in Steigen. At Bø, just before the turning to the Ditel battery, where in the Second World War the Germans placed three large canons to control the whole of Vestfjord right up to Narvik. The view from the battery extends from Røst nearly as far as Narvik. The canons were fortunately never fired. In the background you can see Lofoten.”
Three Cushions
“This photograph is one of the first colour prints in this series. It was taken in the summer of 1992 in the sitting room of my Aunt Sigrid, right next to where Death and the stork was taken.
I try to capture the real world. This means that none of my photographs are arranged. I photograph the simple everyday surroundings of ordinary people without changing their interiors or identities. These are pictures you would never find in a museum. This is a contemporary documentation of the real world.
In a way my photographs have become a kind of gossip magazine. My interiors and portraits of ordinary people and their homes also deserve a place in the public’s attention.”
The Witch in Mjeldberget
“I can see Mjeldberget from the window of my loft in Bø. There is a legend about this great rock. In brief, this is about a witch who wanted to create a bank in the sea to make it easier to catch fish. She threw a lasso around the rock to pull it out into the fjord, but just then the sun came up and she was turned to stone.
You can see the witch in the top left of the rock with her long hair and upward-pointing nose. The mark left by the lasso is the black stripe passing diagonally down the side of the rock.”
From Varanger
“I went to Varanger in Finnmark in the winter of 2004. It was at the end of February and daylight had just started to return after the long, dark northern winter. The amazing light and the flat, austere landscape inspired me to start photographing landscapes again.
From Varanger is taken from a small settlement midway between Vardø and Vadsø. The light lasted for just a few seconds, and then it was gone. By chance I just happened to be there at that moment, and pressed the shutter button straight away.
I was very surprised when the new National Museum of Art in Oslo purchased this landscape photograph, when the National Museum of Contemporary Art had previously only exhibited my interiors. Subconsciously my form of expression must have changed.”