Norway before and now

Landscape geographer and photographer Puschmann has created a fascinating project in which the contemporary meets the past in a visual tale about the changes in the Norwegian countryside landscapes and cityscapes.

The method is called re photographing images. With the help of historical images from photographers like Per Adolf Thorén (1830-1909), Axel Lindahl (1841-1906) and Anders Beer Wilse (1865-1949), Puschmann is finding the exact same view as the view in the moment of exposure. In order for the motif to be as identical as possible, he chooses a lens with the same focal length and approximately the same lighting conditions. An accurate re photographing can give an almost identical motif of that which previously had been photographed. When the two images are displayed side by side, the physical changes in the landscapes will appear.

Axel Lindahl/Oskar Puschmann, 1890/2004. Torpo i Hallingdal, Ål kommune, Buskerud.

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Det gamle bildet viser et typisk landskap fra håndredskapenes tid. Særlig iøynefallende er de mange kornstaurene som står på jordene med kornband til tørk. I dag blir de fleste av bondens gjøremål utført av maskiner, og ressursbruken er kraftig endret. At vedfyring for lengst er erstattet med elektrisitet, gjør også at trærne fritt får vokse, samtidig som ledningsspenn og -stolper er blitt dominerende innslag i våre landskap.

Puschmann’s images is appealing to the audience, but the motivation behind the project is all about showing the social changes Norway has undergone during the last 100 years. Through the picture pairs, our times priorities become clear. Food production must yield to transportation industry. Norwegian agricultural is laid down, something that leads to the overgrowth of the cultural landscape. Puschmann’s hope is that his dedicated work will stimulate others to reflect and have a constructive debate about the development of the landscape and the use of our nature resources.

Puschmann’s pair of images can have a time span up to a 150 years or in some cases only a few hours. The decision to take a new picture will be based on whether or not there has been a change, like a fire, felling of trees etc., that will give the picture a story to tell.

Both projects are systematically documented with a GPS location, date and time. All the information and photographs will eventually be transferred to the Norsk Folkemuseum, where the content will be available for the next generation to re-photograph the changes of our time.

The series "Looking Back - Norwegian Changing Landscapes" has been going on since 2002 and has resulted in a traveling exhibition (2005), a book (2006) and is published on the website tilbakeblikk.no that was launched in 2013.

Anders Beer Wilse/Oskar Puschmann, Brøtsø, Tjøme municipality, Vestfold 1911/2004.