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Where light and dark are the same
Opposites a reflection of each other in photographer's new exhibit

A series of illuminated heads "describes the interpretation of the first physical encounter with a place you formed an opinion about through others' eyes and stories" in Catrin Andersson's photo work "Beyond the Horizon," on display at Galleri Svalbard starting Monday.

Published May 11, 2010

Anyone can point out the differences between near and far, science and art, or darkness and light. Catrin Andersson is pointing out the similarities.

A glowing head tells tales inspired by polar darkness. Extreme close-ups of dirty ice capture the infinity of space. Electronic buzzing from researchers at work form "an interpretation of being human in a wide context."

Andersson, a photographer from Malmö, Sweden, will expose such ideas at 4 p.m. Monday during the opening of her exhibit "Beyond The Horizon" at Galleri Svalbard. She captured the images during visits to Svalbard between November of 2008 and February this year, and said assembling the works has been an ongoing process.

"It's something about the change in the contrast in this place," she said, explaining why she came to Svalbard after a lengthy number of exhibitions in places such as Japan, Mexico, Scotland and Serbia. "I think it's amazing. You came here with an open mind, you know basically the work you want to do, but you never know how you will react to being in a place like this."

The nine-photo title piece of "Beyond the Horizon" features a head illuminated in darkness, capturing what Andersson calls "the interpretation of the first physical encounter with a place you formed an opinion about through others' eyes and stories." Texts from expeditions and other research inspired the images, but she isn't shining any light on how they were illuminated.
"It's confidential," she said. "It's quite nice to have people wondering about how it's made."

Also featured as part of the exhibit is "Out There (In This World)," combining close-up photos of ice with sound captured at the EISCAT radar facility near Mine 7.

"It's shots of ice when it was totally frozen in February," she said. "So it's like close up...(but) when I put all those images together it's like you're looking at outer space."

The exhibit will be on display until June 26. But Andersson said she plans to return to Svalbard to continue working on the pieces, perhaps through more collaborations with scientists.

"This will be like a long-term project, so I will definitely come back here and continue work in a different direction," she said.

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