TORBJØRN RØDLAND

I AM MY FIRST PHOTOGRAPH

1974: My father and older sister. Photographed in front of naked winter trees, close to home, in Hafrsfjord, Norway. Years passed before I was allowed to make another exposure. Father probably concluded I was too young to support a camera for 1/30th of a second. I was four years old.

Obstructing twigs / Cool grass / A hand on a vertical trunk / An introverted girl / Her white head / A man making himself photographable / Warm low light and long shadows

Refute your parents’ project and forget your childhood; they are still who you are. The shock of my first photograph is a shock of continuity. I would spend ten years as an artist unpacking and reworking these motifs, these modes of representation.

Torbjørn Rødland lives and works in Los Angeles. His photographs have been exhibited at Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis; Stedelijk Museum CS, Amsterdam; Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art, Oslo; the 48th Venice Biennial; among others. His films have been exhibited at venues such as Hiroshima City Museum of Contemporary Art; the 2007 Athens Biennial; P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, Long Island City; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and Reina Sofia Museum, Madrid. Project books include ANDY CAPP VARIATIONS (Hassla, 2011); I WANT TO LIVE INNOCENT (steidlMACK, 2008) and WHITE PLANET BLACK HEART (steidlMACK, 2006). Upcoming solo exhibitions include STANDARD OSLO (December 2011) and Air de Paris (January 2012).

www.airdeparis.com
www.standardoslo.no