Oyvind Hjelmen

Broken Shadow Oyvind Hjelmen

For over thirty years, Oyvind Hjelmen has worked as a photographer on the Norwegian island of Stord. His work is characterized by poetic images seeking to show the passage of time in an often enigmatic way. Broken Shadow is a collection of fragmented memories.

Aiming for timelessness, the images reflect on how we relate to ourselves and our surroundings as human beings. How our adult lives are based upon our childhood, and how we relate to our memories, hopes and fears, sexuality and dreams. The images evoke a feeling of contrast between the weight of the shadows and the lightness of flight.

In the shadows we are grounded, connected. Breaking open the shadow can reveal the beauty that hides there. Hiding in the depths, there may be good things, but also uncertainty and fear.

Broken Shadow is the third part of a trilogy, following Elsewhere (2010) and Moments Reflected (2020).