Mid Sweden University

 Rephotography is a powerful form of revising and recirculating visual narratives, and is entangled with environmentally concerned artistic practice and art history. From a documentary arts perspective, this text reflects on recirculating microhistories raised through rephotographic practice at the industrialized river rapid Nämforsen in Sweden. Through archival study and fieldwork inherent to rephotographic practice, forgotten stories of resistance emerge. Among the many image-makers at Nämforsen were Eduard (Edvard) Bechteler and Ruth Zachrisson who undertook acts of resistance to hydropower development in a variety of ways that might today be understood as environmentalism. These microhistories have a striking relevance as Northern Sweden is once again the subject of industrial exploitation, this time under the banner of the so-called “green transition”.

Med utgångspunkt i pågående konstnärligt forskningsprojekt, tar presentationen upp komplexiteterna med dokumentärfotografiska berättande vid den industrialiserade Nämforsen där s.k. turistsläppet sker under sommaren.

Vilken betydelse spelar dokumentärfotografi i en tid då AI-genererade bilder blir allt vanligare? Vi menar att den dokumentära bilden har en central roll för att bidra till kunskap och empati, och för att skapa möten i en polariserad värld.

VK Kulturdebatt / Newspaper opinion section:

The documentary image must be defended in times of division

What importance does documentary photography play in an era when AI-generated images are becoming increasingly common? We believe that the documentary image has a central role in contributing to knowledge and empathy, and in creating encounters in a polarized world (link to full text in Swedish).

Vattenkraftsutbyggnaden av Sveriges älvar har bidragit till moderniseringsprojektet men också orsakat skada för människor och miljö. Nämforsen var den första av fyrtiofyra vattenkraftverk på Ångermanälvens avrinningsområde. Den mytomspunna Nämforsen i Ådalen är avbildade i allt från Stenålders hällristningar, naturromantiska målningar, och fotografier. Presentationen undersöker genom konstnärlig praktik, bilden av en plats i förändring. Genom bland annat refotografisk praktik återvänder jag till förgångna dokumentärberättelser och ifrågasätter långvariga antropocentriska narrativ. Presentationen utgår ifrån ett urval fotografier från Vattenfalls central arkiv av både kända och okända fotografer som medverkade i dokumentationen av dammbygget (1944–47) och skapande av den ”kultiverade kraftverk,” samt det numera ifrågasatta fiskodlingen som efterföljde.

The following visual essay stems from ongoing artistic research into fluid landscapes and documentary photographic practice at a site of energy extraction. In Northern Sweden lies Nämforsen, a waterfall-turned-hydropower plant that embodies the difficulties of visualizing ecological issues. The historical site has been represented over long periods of time and offers a rich visual archive that can be explored through rephotography. One such image-maker is Sweden’s most renowned antiquities conservationist and later landscape architect, Sigurd Curman. Although a dedicated documentarian, Curman’s photographic work is understudied. His photographs of Nämforsen offer views of a place in extreme transition and loss. Through a rephotographic practice, this work actively (re)landscapes and (re)imagines future revisions of a contested landscape.

"There is a common image of the Nordic landscape that consists of beautiful skies, clean snow, high mountains and deep forests. This image is rapidly changing due to the explorations and exploitation of nature by humans and companies, as well as being  challenged by rereading of history. 

During the evening at Centrum för fotografi four artists will present their current work all dealing with climate change; the use and misuse of natural resources in the north and its effects on the land, people and climate. After the short presentations there will be a discussion moderated by Caroline Elgh.  

The program is a collaboration between Fotografisk Center in Copenhagen, Preus Museum in Horten, Hippolyte in Helsinki, and Centrum för fotografi in Stockholm  and is funded by Nordic Culture Point.

Participating artists: Marja Helander, Skade Henriksen, Mette Riise, Linda Maria Thompson  Moderator: Caroline Elgh 

https://centrumforfotografi.se/program/resources-of-the-north-on-climate-change-humans-and-nature-through-four-artistic-practices/

During the past years, activist movements have increasingly turned to social media to raise awareness and critically discuss current development and future scenarios. As a contribution to the discussion of new social movements and activism in the digital age, this study aims to explore and critically discuss how environmental risks and crisis are visually communicated in activism campaigns on Instagram, through a case study on Extinction Rebellion Sweden (XRsv). The study is delimited to the first 334 posts on XRsv's Instagram between November 14, 2018 and March 1, 2020. Methods used are interview and content analysis. In conclusion, XRsv has adopted aspects of design activism including visual tactics of Informing, Activating and Explaining. These three visual aspects are used by XRsv in an online context enabling interactivity and participatory actions, which in turn forms the core of design activism.