Austmarka | minus 8 degrees | sunny + dry
getting out of the village
is not easy
bus leaves at 6.45 am
one returns at 3.45
if your lucky
question is – what to do
on arriving at 7.20 am
when it’s freezing ?
you can stroll
up to the Fortress
suggests Astrid
thoughts of a day out
preoccupy me all morning
to go to a cafe
a museum
look at the fortress
the shops
soak up some local colour
out and about with my camera
still unaccustomed
to the very cold
gloves on and off
adjusting my camera
I head up to the bridge
separating 2 lakes
Fagernessjøen and some other
air so sharp
it cuts into bare skin
clear hard light
revealing everything
I film the
the river Sorgo
as it whooshes along
a thin white mist
hovers about it
begin to photograph
the glitzy grasses
and weeds
covered with white shards
like cheap christmas decorations
afternoon is almost over by 2
blue shadows close in
how long have I been here ?
now, to get on with some work
must learn Premiere Pro
don’t really like it
but persevere
through tutorials
served up
by excessively cheerful
young men
am told it all happens
post production !
contrasty stuff
and colour grading
rather complex
projecting the captured
and seemingly real
into a totally
hyperreal universe
like in cinema films
where you see too much
this is the measure they use
hmmm….
the other artist
called Jenny, arrives
she is older and chatty
a relief
she is steady and calm
we chat over a meal
with Lin from Taiwan
and talk about life
at home and away
Norwegians (apparently) are wealthy
unless they’re alcoholics
on drugs or new from abroad
they are communal,egalitarian
Social Democrats
they pay high taxes
but don’t mind
they learn to ski in school
there are wolves and bears
hereabouts and beware of
Elks with baby Elks in tow
they are apt to rear up
and clatter you
with their front feet
in Taiwan they eat out
all the time
play base ball + basket-ball
aborigines live
in the central mountains
but work in the towns
their history is muddied
with that of China and Japan
about the UK I tell them
I live on the coast
a diverse and creative place
full of artists, photographers, musicians etc
we have lovely beaches and walks in the woods
where people walk their dogs + their children
no dangerous animals or weather
but
we have a terrible government
self-serving, draconian, philistine, mean
it’s cold outside
we put the heating on high
and huddle with hot drinks
