The Norwegian Way by Jørn Tomter
I always become excited when I discover a book or magazine with photographs depicting events or traditions from somewhere else, pictures that bring me news from another time or place. But there is also an excitement in finding photographs of the familiar, images of places associated with my own past but made strange by the camera’s lens. It often takes an outsider to show us what is unique about our own culture.
'Russ' is a celebration of the end of high school, a three-week party attended by most of the 18-19 year-olds in Norway. The revelries commence at the end of April and climax on the Norwegian National Day, May 17th.
For many, taking part in Russ is a rite of passage, a transitional period when the usual rules and restrictions that govern a teenager’s life are forgotten, and when excessive drinking, drug taking and casual sex are the norm. In order to travel between parties, Russ kids club together to buy buses and vans that they customize and paint throughout their last year at school. They dress up in boiler suits: red, representing all the traditional academic subjects, is the most common colour, but they also come in blue: business and marketing, and black: vocational studies like carpentry. Finishing off the outfit is a Russ hat, a peaked cap strung with ‘knots’ or charms that are awarded when special tasks or dares have been completed. Russ is a big commercial presence in Norway, with a whole industry dedicated to selling clothes and party paraphernalia to each graduating year.
I moved to the UK from Norway in 1997, and returning on my summer holiday one year I was struck by the suddenly strange and exotic vision of the Russ kids driving around. I had been transposed from my own culture and youth, separated by distance and years, and this changed perspective made me unexpectedly, forcefully aware of my culture in new ways.
Shot between 2003 and 2007, The Norwegian Way is the first in a planned series of observations of the places, traditions and events that define Norway for me. I look forward to the time when this book is itself an artefact; a record of a tradition and time forgotten.
Jorn Tomter
London 2007