carboncollective™: Kai Krog Halse

It’s time for the next part of carboncollective™, the series in which we are showcasing the work of some of the best Flickr photographers from Scandinavia. We’ve hand picked some of the more interesting photographers from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden in order to show you a selection of their work on lifeiscarbon®. In our eyes, all of the photographers we've selected demonstrate a strong sense of Scandinavian aesthetics in their work and, as a collective, their photography spans a broad range of styles and subject matter.

Our fourth photographer is Kai Krog Halse (a.k.a. Krogen) from Ullensaker in Norway. In our opinion there’s no one finer on Flickr at capturing the varied terrain and dramatic seasons of the Norwegian landscape quite like Krogen. Seemingly never satisfied with his efforts, Krogen often revisits locations to re-shoot the same scenes and uses a variety of advanced techniques in Photoshop to finally achieve the effect he’s looking for. At first glance his landscapes may appear somewhat ‘picture postcard’ but there’s a darker edge to Krogen’s work that seems to convey a sense of the history of the places he shoots. We also love his more experimental shots, as shown here, in which he captures his love of classic cars and modern architecture.

Born in Trondheim in 1953, Krogen grew up with an older sister and brother. Both of his parents worked as teachers but his father was also a skilled amateur photographer and his mother was a poet. His mother’s writing has recently been rediscovered by a new generation of fans and used as lyrics by the Norwegian rock band Gåte.

Krogen’s father held photography at the local school and thus Krogen learned to develop film and photos in the darkroom at an early age. It’s possible to see some early shots taken with his first camera, a Kodak Brownie with fixed shutter speed and plastic lens, on his Flickr photo stream.

“Vacations in Trollheimen and daily activities where documented on slide film and B&W photos. I can still recall the magic of B&W photos from my childhood days.”

Krogen started followed his parents chosen profession and began his teaching career in Roan, a small community with a population of under a 1000 on the coast of Trøndelag. The magnificent nature of the area and the dramatic changes in light and weather can be viewed in his set of Pictures From Roan on Flickr.

Take a look at a selection of Krogen’s landscape photographs in the carboncollective™ IV gallery.

For no other reason then the fact that we think it’s sweet, here's an early photograph of the Boy Krogen taken by his father Kåre Halse.

“We spent every easter in Trollheimen. We had to go ski for 15 kilometres to reach our winter cabin. I think I was 3 years old when this picture was taken.”

Krogen on Flickr