Story 180: Håkon Borgen

What is your backstory?

I grew up in a small town in Norway, a bit west of Trondheim at the coast. I’m a former electrical engineer turned to my creative side. I think my interest in technical things in photography comes from engineering. Photography for me started with me wanting to learn how to take images of my graffiti. This led to me taking a lot of pictures when traveling around doing graffiti and general traveling. In 2020 my interest for so high that it shifted from being a hobby to me studying photography for 2 years. At the same time starting a photography business for myself.

What camera gear/editing setup do you use?

I work with a combination of analog medium and large format and digital medium format. What I choose to use depends on what the project needs. For analog work, I use a combination of cameras, an Intrepid 4x5 view camera, RZ67, and Fujifilm GWS690III. When using digital I work with a Fujifilm Medium Format camera. My favorite focal length is 40mm. It’s wide but not too wide, it’s compressed but not too compressed. The bigger the format the better the focal length gets.

Even though I stick mostly to the same setup, I’m very technical and like to try new setups and techniques. I rarely leave the apartment without a camera. I always bring at least a compact camera in my pocket wherever I go, even if it's just for the store. My favorite at the moment is the Fujifilm X100V. 

How do you achieve the look of your photographs and could you take us through the process?

I have to find the space to wander and daydream. I drive until I see a place or person who is interesting and that's when I hop out of the car and walk or do a couple more laps to build up the gusto to say hello. Every interaction and place is different. That's what I love about this process, nothing is ever the same. You learn a lot about the world this way. It teaches you to pay attention to what’s happening around you. I photographed with only analog processes for a while. It has taught me to slow down and concentrate on every exposure. I do the same when using digital now, I think this is a key factor in my process. Analyzing the scene before snapping away. 

I am really passionate about the gear I use - for me, it’s almost like an extension of my arms. I think it’s wrong when people say “camera doesn’t matter”. For me, the camera and lens combination is key to achieving the look I want. 

Once the picture is made, it's backed up and I make a sort of analog contact sheet that I print out and cut up into small prints for editing physically. I believe in the physical nature of the medium. I can’t make an edit on screen. I either hang those on a wall or keep a stack by my desk. Slowly, pictures get tossed into the out pile and what's left I use as a reference to continue making and developing the work. It’s all about the long game.

Could you tell us the backstory of some of your photographs?

Right now I am working on finishing a long-term project Evig Søndag (the pictures I show here), the pictures were mostly taken when I was out bicycling or driving around my neighborhood, a favorite thing for me to do for sure. I like houses, objects, and buildings that are straight, simple, boring, and amazingly beautiful in my eyes. I am looking for shapes, forms, and a flow in an image. It could be anything really as long as the form catches my attention. For this particular photo series, I also photographed people. Some of them I wonder about on my wanderings around the neighborhood, but for most, I contacted them beforehand because I think they will fit in my vision of the story and concept. For me it’s an ego thing I think, getting to know strangers is something I find really interesting and fun. You never know what you will end up with.

What advice do you have for aspiring photographers?

As I consider myself an aspiring photographer, ill give the advice myself. I think the most important thing is to be super interested in what you are trying to tell. The work needs to be for yourself first and others will find out if it’s interesting to them later.

I Believe in making pictures and not taking them. Don’t just snap away, not take your time with the subject or object. Photography is conceptual but also technical, the more adept you are at both, the better your photographs will be.