© Ole Marius Joergensen | Slow Night
Finding the Red
Ole Marius Joergensen
His work refers to family and friends but also to directors and artists who have inspired him. The images are constructs of childhood memories.
A woman dressed in red sits close to the window in a nondescript bar, seemingly in a remote village in cold winter. Her red coat corresponds with the red brand-less sign Kafe. Both red coloured objects are supposed to signify warmth and passion, which is absent from the point of view of the spectator. On the left of the image, we see a bartender, stressing the overall loneliness that is hovering over the scene. This image of the Norwegian photographer Ole Marius Joergensen is called Slow Night.
The colour red is obviously a metaphorical marker in the series called Finding the Red. Joergensen calls these images constructs of his childhood memories. The images refer to family and friends but also to directors and artists who have inspired him. Not to be overlooked, of course, is the influence of the American painter Edward Hopper, not only in terms of the melancholy loneliness that is depicted but also in style, colour treatment and perspective. The realist painter Hopper also painted ladies in utter solitude, like in the Cape Cod Morning, where the colour red seemed to underscore the ladies urge to break out of her isolation.
This series is a reflection of who and what inspired me
How did Ole Marius Joergensen develop his series Finding the red? “This series came about when I started thinking about my visual looks and themes. I got curious about who I am artistically. So, I got this idea to combine all the elements which have shaped me and my creativity into one project. This series is a reflection of who and what inspired me. When you start digging for ideas, they come by themselves. First one out was my Edward Hopper image. I knew about this old building which would be perfect for the idea. Since it is Hopper, I wanted a cafe and an isolated person. I discovered Hopper many years ago, and his images just sing to me. They are pure magic. Another important element is David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, which showed me the magic of TV as an art form.”
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Finding the red
The very first influence that showed Ole Marius Joergensen something interesting about art was the book The Red Couch: A Portrait of America, by William Least Heat-Moon. “I combined the two elements, the red couch and twin peaks, in one image, and that is also why the series is named Finding the red.”
Joergensen is looking back at his history trying to find the red, which was the beginning of the whole journey. “The series is also built on elements from Hitchcock, Spielberg, Crewdson and Stephen King. I also show my uncle and my aunt, who were very important during my journey. My cinematic looks have always been there. I started out studying film in the late 90s. I wanted to become a director, but for many reasons, I ended up as a photographer for which I am pleased.”
Back in time
On another photograph of the series, The melancholic mechanic, we see a BP gas station, barely lit in the dusk. A mechanic bows over the engine of an old-timer. This work of Joergensen could be read as a comment on our perpetual desire to travel and to be always on the move, while we never arrive. By treating his scenes as a retrospect, Joergensen avoids a straightforward interpretation. “I usually place my visual looks back in time as a statement that in the present time, everything is void of feeling and soul. We see only mass-produced, cheap-looking crap. Just look at bus stops and everything from road signs to street lights. Things do not look beautiful, but very cheap. But even though my critical view, I don’t consider my art as political. There is one great political artist I enjoy, and that’s Banksy. So, until my ideas are as good as his, I am doing the things I do.”
Classic form
Joergensen uses his old digital Hasselblad and some flash lamps to create his eerie and sometimes dark work. “I don’t like chemicals, so it’s all digital.” He considers the idea as the essential part of this process. “Everybody can learn Photoshop and how to use a camera, but I think a good idea is primordial. Of course, it is also important to know how to use the equipment. Over the years, I learned what I need to do, to get what I want. That was a critical path to walk. It’s important to try many different ways and make a lot of failures. Otherwise, you don’t learn where the path will be leading. I am not very experimental in my visuals. I am often using the same distance from the camera to the object and the same height on my tripod. I learned a lot about composition by looking at old painters. The classic painters knew all you need to know as a photographer about light and composition.”
Vivaldi and Daft Punk
Joergensen did not get his inspiration from photography only, but was deeply influenced by painting and film. “I am not so much into photography anymore, but I remember when I first discovered Gregory Crewdson and Erwin Olaf, I was blown away. But apart from them, I get a lot of inspiration from films and also painters. Also, music seems to trigger something in me when working on ideas, varying from Tom Waits to Leonard Cohen, Vangelis, Angelo Badalamenti, Vivaldi, Radiohead and Daft Punk.” Ole Marius Joergensen studied photography school in Trondheim, Norway. “The photography school I went to was great. I learned everything about the technical aspect but also about the history of art and photography. My education formed a sound basis. Information about enterprising and art galleries, I learned by myself and from the people I met on my way.”
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