Why Photography?

Henie Onstad Kunstsenter has been groundbreaking for almost 50 years in presenting new and experimental art, and is a historical place for photography in Norway.

Edited by MELK together with Susanne Østby Sæther (HOK) Why Photography? highlights and go into depth on the current generation of photographers and functions as a reference publication for the years to come.

They ask artists to state, with words and images, how they see and relate to photography as a technical apparatus, and why they have chosen photography as well as the potential future of the medium. Rather than being a classic scholarly publication, the goal is to release a visual manifesto that outlines many and varied viewpoints from every corner of the globe.

In 2017 Henie Onstad launched an ambitious photo program, which aims to increase the engagement with and knowledge of modern and contemporary photography as an art form. As part of the photo program, they develop a new and extensive exhibition format in the form of a triennial that will showcase recent developments in photography and camera based art more generally. The exhibition recurs every third year, bringing together recent work of around 35 international artists.

Henie Onstad will be working with a new collaborative partner as co-curators for each edition. For the first edition they are collaborating with the artist-run Oslo-based gallery MELK (Behzad Farazollahi, Christian Tunge and Bjarne Bare), who have been pivotal for promoting new practices within Scandinavian photography nationally and internationally.

About the Authors

Bjarne Bare is an internationally exhibited artist based in Los Angeles. Behzad Farazollahi is an artist and a curator based in Oslo. He is the co-founder of MELK, an ongoing project-space based in Oslo, that focuses on promoting new Scandinavian photography.

Christian Tunge is a photographer, exhibition maker, project coordinator at Melk Oslo, founder of the publishing platform Heavy Books.

Susanne Østby Sæther, Curator for Photography and New Media at Henie Onstad Kunstsenter, Oslo.

Brian Sholis is an editor, writer, and independent curator in Toronto.