A Heartfelt Update from Me
It’s been quite a while since I last shared anything on my portal. Today, though, I’d like to open up a bit—be a little more personal—and give you a glimpse into my life over the past year, as well as where I’m heading next. The short version is this: I’ve been struggling with poor health for much of the past year, and it has taken quite a toll on me.
Workshop in Milan, IT
But I haven’t been idle. I managed to complete a workshop in Italy with Michael Ackerman—though, due to circumstances beyond my control, it ended up taking an entire year to finish. During that time, we held two gatherings in Milan. Out of this came a documentary project about a Norwegian musician living with bipolar disorder. I presented the finished work to Michael, and it was screened in Italy in April 2025. Unfortunately, I don’t have the rights to show it anywhere else—at least not for now. Still, I was pleased with the result, received encouraging feedback, and got some useful advice for further improvements.
The project was a video documentary. The first part was a two-camera interview with the subject, while the final 4–5 minutes flowed into a slideshow of my black-and-white photographs of him, set to one of his own songs with lyrics that beautifully complemented the images.
As a happy side effect of the workshop, I connected well with several of the participants—especially one of the initiators, Gabriele Lopez. He also introduced me to his friend here in Norway, Andrea Taurisano, who lives in Åsgårdstrand. Meeting Andrea has been a real joy. We share a very similar photographic expression and a strong passion for photobooks. It’s rare for me to find such like-minded people here in Norway, so I can honestly say the trips to Italy were absolutely worth it.
In August 2024, I also attended a workshop at the Hasselblad Center in Gothenburg with my great role model, Anders Petersen. Those were some truly fantastic days that I look back on with both inspiration and gratitude.
Exhibition at Lifjell Art Center, July to September 2025
On July 6, 2025, I opened a major exhibition at Lifjell Art Center. I had access to the main gallery hall, as well as a separate space where I presented a video installation based on still images.
The exhibition featured 41 street photographs from a range of European cities, including London, Krakow, Budapest, Moscow, Tbilisi in Georgia, and more. The show was well attended and concluded on September 7th.
On My Health
So, what’s been going on?
Without going into too much details: I caught Covid in September 2024. What followed was persistent diarrhea that never stopped after Covid itself was gone. This became chronic and eventually led to an emergency hospitalization with kidney failure.
Fast forward to March 2025: as I write this, I’ve been living with acute diarrhea for almost exactly one year, -24/7. Exhausting, to say the least. Needless to say, it has put a damper on both my activities and my social life.
Along the way, as a by-product of all the tests related to my intestinal issues, I was also diagnosed with prostate cancer. So yes—the past year has been tough. But my spirits remain good.
Prostate cancer, as you may know, is almost considered a “common” illness among men over 50. The doctors tell me they have it under control, and I trust them on that. As for the intestinal problems, I’ve finally regained some hope there too.
My good friend in Trondheim, Per Oskar, was quick to react when I told him about my struggles during this year’s blues festival in Notodden. He said, “You need to try Berit Nordstrand’s 30-day Restart Diet. I’ll connect you with her.”
Well, it’s quite an extensive food regimen—focused on healing the gut with restorative food. For me and my wife, it meant adjusting to a lot of unfamiliar ingredients—things like kimchi and kombucha, and plenty more. Still, I decided to give it a try and started the program on September 1st this year.
And believe it or not: within just a few days, I noticed a remarkable improvement. From 10–12 bathroom visits a day, I was down to 4, then 3, and now just 2–3 after 15 days on the new diet. No longer acute, no longer constant diarrhea—it’s honestly been incredible. My mood has lifted, I’ve dared to go hiking again, and I feel my energy returning. All thanks to a suggestion from a good friend. A heartfelt thanks to you, Per Oskar!
Looking Ahead
I’ve also returned to analog photography—yes, film. Just like in the 1980s. I’ve ordered the equipment I need to digitize negatives with a digital camera, dusted off my old darkroom gear, and mapped out a new photographic path for myself.
I’ll still be working in black-and-white, but I feel a stylistic shift coming. A new genre—let’s say, leaning more to the “left” of street photography if we imagine it on a left-to-right spectrum. Maybe you’ll like it, maybe not. But this is where my heart is right now, and that’s what matters. I know this expression may be hard to understand—it requires seeing the subjects on a different level than the traditional.
So there you have it: the reasons for my absence, the personal challenges, and, hopefully, the beginnings of a happy ending. Fingers crossed!
-The analog way! With dust, texture, unsharpnes and unperfect human in the way of details.
Exciting? Yes—it truly is. I promise.