Helge Skodvin

Volvo 240. Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway. 2011

Helge Skodvin (b.1968, Norway) started out as a carpenter, but laid down his hammer and took up the camera instead. He has a degree in photography from the London College of Printing. From 2010 he has divided his time between assignments for magazines such as GEO and in-depth projects in Norway. His images have been book covers for writers such as Ian McEwan, John Banville among others. Helge’s work was exhibited this fall at the Noorderlicht Photo Festival in the Netherlands and at FotoDoks in Germany. He is based in Bergen, Norway and is a member of MOMENT Agency and Millennium Images.

About the Photograph:

“I went to the Svalbard archipelago to hunt. Halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. Not for polar bears, but for an old Volvo 240 that I knew was there. This day I was having a quick break and a chocolate bar when I saw something in the distance. Could it be? I found my binoculars. Yes it is! A Volvo 240! Parked in the most scenic of places. I ran. I have been photographing these cars for a project called 240 landscape. More than any other car, the Volvo 240 became a symbol of Norwegian and Nordic values. The safe, the sound, the commonplace. Square and homely, yet solid and reliable. Function over form. No frills. Taking you from A to Z. An ambassador for the Scandinavian social democracy. I have been photographing these cars as they are parked. I want to show how we live, how our surroundings look. I wish to portray the everyday landscape.”