This month, we focus on artists working with photography. Photography processes a representational power that can at times be relentless. It has the ability to communicate with the observer, to convey a moment of the artist's worldview. The most important tool is the camera, but equally significant as the portrayal of reality through the camera lens is the manipulation that can be attributed to photography - before or after the shot. Photography can swiftly narrate a comprehensive story, where the image itself is potent enough for a story to evoke recollection or convey something new.

Common among the highlighted artists is their ability to capture and present raw intimacy. At the same time, intimacy is vulnerable but strong because it stands proudly in its vulnerability.

Maria Pasenau (b.1994, Mjøndalen) holds a degree from the Norwegian School of Photography in Trondheim.

She works primarily with photography, installation, performance and sculpture. Pasenau has garnered attention for boundary-breaking exhibitions that thematize taboo topics such as gender, the body and sexuality, where she points to contemporary self-staged media culture. The expression is self-revealing and seemingly unpolished and uncensored. Through her artistic practice, Pasenau highlights multi-voiced expressions of what it means to be young today, where sexuality is closely linked with vulnerability.

Pasenau is among the youngest artists to have been acquired by the National Museum in Norway.

Marthe Bleu (b. 1994) is educated at Oslo Fotokunstskole (2014-2016) and Bergen Academy of Fine Arts (2017-2020).

Bleu writes stories with a camera. In a world where photo sharing of life's highlights is central, her focus is the darker sides of this addiction. In dim basement rooms, dark apartments, on beds, floors and toilets, love, loneliness and longing are depicted. Without a filter, Bleu goes from harsh contrasts to unclear focus, where the imperfect takes center stage. The self-portrait is something Bleu often falls back on. She is the one we can follow, like a red thread in ups and downs, friendship, sex, relationships and the hard asphalt of the next generation's attempt at life. Bleu is a voice for his generation and their search for meaning in a world full of possibilities. The Snap-shot aesthetic depicts fragmented moments and creates a true and honest image of our real reality.

Christian Tunge (b. 1989, NO) holds a BFA in photography from the University of Gothenburg (2015).

Tunge works primarily with photography, printing and art books. He is interested in how todays society relate to images, and several of his recent photo series deal with digital image sharing. Tunge has made a name for himself within the graphic medium and has in resent years produced several of his artworks as prints rather than traditional photo-prints. In 2022, Tunge was awarded the Norske Grafikeres Fonds graphics prize for a series of riso prints exhibited during the annual Autumn Exhibition. Several of his more recent works have ornamented frames, an element that plays on the historical and traditional design of frames, as well as the current use of signs and images in digital communication. Tunge explores photography as a medium and photography’s development in today’s society in a number of ways. In addition to his own artistry, he is the founder of the art book publisher Heavy Books, which specializes in printed publications from young artists. The publications are at the intersection between books and works of art, and come in limited editions. Tunge is also one of the people behind the artist-run photo gallery MELK, which opened its doors in 2009.

Tunges works has been a part of the Autumn Exhibition 2022 in Oslo, the Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, and his works has been shown in numerous galleries in both Sweden and Norway.

Geir Moseid (b. 1978, Tønsberg, NO) is a Norwegian photographer living and working in Oslo. Since graduating from London College of Communication in 2008, Moseid has been working on multiple photographic series, operating at the point where documentary practice and staged photography meet.

By working with a 4x5 inch camera Moseid aims to challenge how one can talk about and discuss social, anthropological and economical issues in contemporary photography. A focus on colour, texture and human relationships of various kinds forms the base of his practice, while the narrative elements within the work often remains open and ambiguous.

Moseid is acquired by the Equinor Art Programme, Haugar Museum of Contemporary Art and the University of the Arts London and has won awards in England and Germany for his talent.