September 9, 2013: Gypsy Generation, Andrea Gjestvang for gypsygen.com
It was July 22nd, 2011, a warm summer Friday in peaceful and quiet Norway, when a single man onset one of the worst tragedies Scandinavia has ever faced. At 15:25, a car bomb went off within Oslo’s Regjeringskvartalet (the Government quarter), leaving eight people dead and 209 severely injured. A few hours later, 34-year-old Anders Behring Breivik went to the nearby island of Utøya, where the youth division of the ruling Norwegian Labour Party was holding its annual summer camp. Opening fire on the hundreds of innocent young faces, the massacre was one that had never been seen before; 69 dead, hundreds rushed to hospitals, at least half of the survivors seriously injured and almost everyone below the age of 18. Today, two years and a month have passed since that dark Friday, but its wounds have yet to heal.
Norwegian photographer and photojournalist Andrea Gjestvang, working as a photo editor at the nearby local newspaper Verdens Gang, was at her desk when the explosion went off. “I was very scared and confused, almost paralyzed,” she recalls. The whole building shaking, she was forced to escape from the fire entrance along with her colleagues. The event would change her, make her see the world differently. “I don’t take my everyday problems as serious anymore,” she says, “I try to focus on what is important”.
Having won multiple awards with her politically-opinionated work focusing on social and anthropological issues in the northern hemisphere, Andrea decided she would photograph as many survivors and eyewitnesses from the massacre as she could. Her powerful project “One Day in History” documents 43 different individuals, each with their own story to tell, though each story coming down to the same common theme: survival. In such a tragic circumstance, their primal instinct was their only motivation. Most of Andrea’s subjects have injuries visible to the eye, others carry them deep inside; all of them hold a fear for life and loss of innocence.
“I carry my scars with dignity, because I got them from something I believe in,” says the 15-year-old Ylva Helen Schwenke who’s portrait is seen on the cover of Andrea’s book of portraits, “It’s my attitude in life, it keeps me standing. This is how things are, and I have to deal with it. It helps no one if I sink into depression, least of all myself, so I keep my head up and focus on the good things in life”.
Andrea Gjestvang’s project won the L’Iris d’Or at the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards, beating over 62,000 competitors from 170 countries. Now, having moved on to new projects, “One Day in History” has inspired her to keep exploring the topic of human consequence of terror attacks with her camera lens. Here, we speak to the renowned photographer about the process of documenting the individual tragedies that mark the day engrained in her country’s collective memory.
Your project ‘One Day in History’ has to do with the most brutal massacre Norway has ever seen. With your photos you’ve decided to show how those young survivors have rebuilt their lives, despite the scars they carry. Would you say the project is based on hope?
Absolutely. The strength and courage of these youths show that it is possible to heal, even after such a terrible incident. On the other hand, some scars will never disappear. Some of the youths don’t feel that time is healing, quite the opposite actually. The process is individual. For me, it was important to show that grief comes in different shapes and everyone has their own way to handle it. I also wanted to leave room for the ones that did not have the determination and didn’t know how to move on. I think that we all wish for a happy ending, but that’s not how life works. It was important to me not to make it any better or worse than it had been.
Some of the young people you photographed were severely injured and even lost limbs. Do you believe that truth –their truth– needs to be shown raw?
Yes, I do… If they agreed to it. To show the concrete consequences is part of the historical documentation. Some people have asked why I expose the injuries in such a direct way in some of the photographs. If the victims themselves are not ashamed of the damages, why should I be the one holding them back and telling them to hide their bodies? I admire their courage and openness.
What were some of the biggest challenges you faced while photographing these subjects? Was it difficult to earn their trust?
It was a challenging process. It is difficult to pick one situation. Many of the survivors I met are immigrants who have already experienced terrible incidents in their past. It’s heavy to hear 17- and 18-year-old people say that they feel they have lost themselves and don’t see any meaning in life anymore.
In order to earn their trust, I tried to make the project and conditions clear. It was up to them if and how much they wanted to tell about their experiences on the island. I tried to create a comfortable atmosphere and keep the entire process transparent. I stayed in touch with everyone who is photographed and they all received a book afterwards.
What was the initial reaction when you first approached your subjects with the idea? What was their and your own response to the final product?
Before I began the project, I discussed it with one of the girls who survived and saw her reaction was very positive. I think many appreciated being allowed to tell their story in their own words, and being able to just tell it like it was. I think the book is also a chance for them to record how life was almost one year after the incident. Then they can always look back when they get older and memories fade.
The response I got from many was that they liked the photos, and thought the pictures somehow resonated with them and their emotions. For others, I guess it was different to see themselves this way. I was relieved when I completed my photo shooting, yet it was a huge work to edit and put everything together, both texts and portraits. Conducting interviews which each of the survivors or eyewitnesses, I was moved by every single one. I had to keep asking myself, Is this really true? Has this incident really happened!?
On your website, the description for “One Day in History” reads: “They go to bed every night and look themselves in the mirror in the morning. But something has changed”. How has the tragedy changed your life?
It is a difficult question, and maybe too early to answer. I have definitely seen a very dark side of life. It will always be there somewhere inside me. It is a cliché, but I don’t take my everyday problems as serious anymore. I try to lift my head and focus on what is important. I take my role and myself as a photographer in a more earnest way now. I have experienced how a project can grow from a tiny idea in my head to one that’s seen by—and moves—people around the world. That motivates me to continue working.
What is your personal story behind the bombing in Oslo? Where were you when all of this happened?
I was working as a picture editor at the newspaper Verdens Gang (VG), which is located next to the government building. The building was shaking and my colleagues and I had to escape through the fire entrance.
I was very scared and confused, almost paralyzed. One part of me wanted to get as far as possible away from the site, as we didn’t know what was going on. Another part of me was desperate to take pictures. Since I was working as a picture editor I didn’t have my cameras, and without it I didn’t know what to do, where to go, and how to deal with what I saw. So I ran home and got my gear.
Has your own childhood upbringing inspired you to follow this career in photojournalism?
I was brought up on a farm near the small Norwegian town Hamar, but there is no link between my childhood and my career in photography. I got an old analogue camera when I was 16 years old, and started to photograph and work in a dark room that I built in our bathroom. I started to experience that, through photography, I could combine my interest in people and what was happening in the world in a way that resonated both with my head and heart.
You’ve won several awards over the years with your work, including the top prize at the Sony World Photography Awards in 2013. Which has been the most significant for you?
Winning the L’Iris d’Or/Sony WPA was of course overwhelming and much unexpected. This recognition means a lot to me. The fact that the work reached out to people all over the world and made them aware of the situation of the survivors of Utoya is something I am very grateful for.
*On August 2012, Breivik was adjudged sane and guilty of murdering 77 people, and sentenced to containment —a special form of a prison sentence that can be extended indefinitely— for 21 years with a minimum sentence of 10 years, the maximum penalty in Norway.
Demetrios Ioannou 