The Gift

Meet Ms IngunnInOslo!

And believe me, this woman is more than a pretty face! For pretty she is; a lovely smile, beautiful teeth, sweet, little dimples, long, flowing hair.

And a set of gorgeous, living eyes. X-ray eyes in fact, that reach far and wide. Up and down. Inside out. Around the corner.

We only met yesterday. But as today was the last day of Joyce Tenneson´s exhibition in Oslo, we decided to meet again. And with our cameras and eyes on high alert, we were possibly more trigger happy than exhibit happy.

For here we are. Two seriously playful girls, both realizing we had to photograph each other. No excuses today. In our unique ways we have a passion for portraits. For taking them. Making them. Creating them.

But not for being the portrait.

But what do you do? Both wanting to photograph, none wanting to be the photographed.

A dilemma.

Which we solved. Seriously playful, I told you. And the stress is on serious this time.

- We need to be photographed in order to understand, Ingunn said. We need to see what it is like to be on the other side of the camera.

We tried many locations. Inside in the quiet rooms of the exhibit. Beside the yellow lights of the toilet. In the hallway with steps and railings. Outside by a bench. Next to a group of statues.

And yes. It was extremely uncomfortable. I had no idea how to behave. Ingunn clicked and clicked and clicked. And deleted, deleted, deleted.

Eventually she had the timely word. She asked, how do you really really want others to see you?

So started the confessional.

What is portraiture? Is it merely to catch someones looks? To see and describe the container so to speak? Or is it to find the contained. That inside, that which we ourselves might not even be aware of.

Ingunn did both. She spent a long time photographing my outsides as well as my insides. She used words as well as her memory card. I was seen by a seer. Uncomfortable, yes, but also an incredible gift.

Ingunn, thank you!
And this is my gift to you.