Erik Mowinckel is a Norwegian photographer, creeping around the streets of Oslo and taking photos of the little moments nobody else notices. He grew up in suburbia outside of Oslo, and started taking pictures as a teenager, borrowing his parents camera. It all started with taking photos of a friend around his neighbourhood, in spaces that he felt were beautiful. He started discovering the influence of icons like Eggleston, Meyerowitz and Ghirri, and eventually acquired his own analogue camera to continue his explorations and experiments.
Erik continues to work in this meandering, spontaneous way of just going for a walk and seeing what happens. Wandering around looking for places, scenes and objects to photograph spontaneously, with no specific aim or idea for what he’s looking for.
When we look at his subtly colourful and fresh compositions, we get a sense of a summer in Scandinavia. All stark shadows, crisp sunlight, bright colours and a haziness that feels sentimental and dreamy. You get an image of Erik, wandering around his neighbourhood, peering into windowsills and peeking between plants. We rarely see people, and if we do it’s a quick glimpse of a silhouette or a lonesome cast of a shadow. There is a quietness in his photographs, where you get a sense of his solitude.
And as for his process, it seems like a pretty damn nice way to explore your surrounds, and find beauty in the everyday scenes that we can often look over or take for granted.
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