TORBJØRN RØDLAND

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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.
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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).