We don’t condone war. We try to persuade our children not to choose guns as toys. We don’t allow them to play violent computer games. We strictly monitor and carefully select what little TV they watch. And yet we ourselves can’t help but be captivated when coming face to face with soldiers covered from head to toe in the latest high tech equipment and carrying the deadliest of weaponry. Captivated, fascinated and terrified. And it’s the look in their eyes that terrifies the most.
No, the experience didn’t happen to us in a war zone but rather in a recent exhibition by Mette Trondvoll at Fotogalleriet, a photo gallery in Oslo. The soldiers were merely near life size portraits, but incredibly powerful none-the-less. We’re not exaggerating when we say that standing in an empty gallery surrounded by these quietly menacing photographs was truly frightening (the reproductions on this site in no way do justice to the experience). Society’s current unavoidable focus on terrorism, which is reflected in (perhaps fueled by) the media images surrounding us, no doubt had a strong influence on how we experienced Mette Tronvoll’s latest work. It is precisely the relation between what we extract from their politically loaded surface and the subjective content within them that creates the tension in the RENA 06 project.
Mette Tronvoll takes portraits. Straightforward and sparing, her photographs nearly always focus on the encounter between the eyes of the sitter and the eyes of the photographer. Her latest series, RENA 06, combines portraits and landscapes taken at the Rena Leir army base in Østerdalen, Norway. The heavily equipped and camouflage clad soldiers are members of the FSK, an elite Special Forces unit. Tronvoll managed to penetrate an environment in which photography is normally forbidden in an attempt to get closer to the personality of the individuals hidden behind the uniforms. All of the soldiers were masked and photographed in uniforms highly customized to the different combat situations they encounter; uniforms which almost appear as extensions of their own bodies.
The portrait is at the core of Mette Tronvoll´s artistic process, and with her confrontational approach the meeting between the photographer, the portrait subject and the spectator is essential. What seems fundamental to the artist is not only the exchange of intense stares but also the tension between individual and stereotype and the juxtaposition of similarities and differences. In RENA 006, Tronvoll attempts to take portrait photography to new limits by omitting most of the conventional hallmarks of portraiture. The large scale and highly camouflaged appearance of the soldiers disallows any individual characteristics. The gaze from the subjects’ eyes and the minimal nuances or variations in posture and gesture become the fundamental elements of the portraits.
Mette Tronvoll, born 1965 in Trondheim but now living and working in Berlin and Oslo, is one of Norway’s most acclaimed photographers internationally. The artist was recently awarded the Candida Höfer Foundation´s art award for her characteristic photographic work. Her Rena Leir project is part of a larger public artwork commissioned by Norwegian National Foundation for Art in Public Buildings.
Camp Rena Leir is located 30 km. north of Elverum in the south east of Norway and, in terms of architecture and technology, is the most modern army base in Europe. It is the home of Hærens Jegerkommando (Army Ranger Command) and the armed forces competence center for ranger, airborne and counter terrorist duty in the Norwegian Army. The HJK education unit is also responsible for training personnel in the Forsvarets Spesialkommando (Norwegian Special Commandos, know in short as FSK). FSK was established in 1981 due to the increased risk of terrorist activity against Norwegian interests, especially the oil platforms in the North Sea. As with other special forces, little is known about the unit and most information is based on speculation and rumors. They are, however, considered by many experts to be the premier special force in the world. It's officially known that they gave support to American Special Forces in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. They have also co-operated with other special forces such as the British SAS, Delta Force and DEVGRU from the USA and GSG 9 from Germany.
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