This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 20:57 and is filed under General, Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
When Carolina Blaad, the press contact at the Sjöhistoriska Maritime Museum did an interview with me (in Swedish), she asked me to describe how it was to be on board the boats. Well, I answered:
“I wanted to see how it was for the fishermen to work and live on a fishing boat. I found it fascinating, like a hidden world — unknown by us living on land. But after being with them for a while, the thought struck me that they really love what they are doing and can hardly be without it even if conditions are very tough for many of them and often involves a lot of hard work…”
AUDIO: Click here to hear Carolina Blaad’s interview…
SLIDE SHOW: Click here to view photos…
I continued: “The first thing I discovered, especially on the smaller boats, was the fact that the boats were rocking in the waves, which effected my effort to keep my balance during photo compositions. Another thing was all the water drops splashing onto my lens, mainly from the fish itself, as the fishermen were gaffing the fish in or gutting it after having brought it on board.”
Question: Any special photograph out of the 30-piece collection of this exhibition that you favor more than others? Can you describe what we are seeing?
“Yes, I have one favorite… Here we can see a crewman involved in shooting the trawl from the Nanoq Trawl off the west coast of Greenland. I think it is a very aesthetic photograph and you can easily get a sense of how much work it takes to prepare these huge trawl nets with all the wires, chains and hooks etc for hauling in or shooting out the trawl. The sharp sunlight increases the effect of the yellowish green color of the trawl net, which adds to the composition of this scene with a man in silhouette.”
Question: How does it feel having this exhibition in the Sjöhistoriska Maritime Museum?
“It feels great… I am very happy for the interest people have been showing. I am also proud and it’s a pleasure to see my photos on these walls. It’s indeed a different medium than a book.
“Hopefully this exhibition will raise people’s awareness of the hard work behind every catch of fish, and help them understand some of the cultural and economic aspects affecting fishing communities in the North Atlantic.”
AUDIO: Click here to hear Carolina Blaad’s interview…
SLIDE SHOW: Click on one of the thumbnail images below to view photos.
