Ilja C. Hendel: Crime and Penance on Bastøy « The Leica Camera
Ilja C. Hendel was born in Frankfurt / Main, Germany in 1971. He began his career in photography belfast sink in 1997 doing reportage and portraiture for a regional newspaper in southern Germany. He also has experience as a picture editor belfast sink for the German nationwide newspaper die tageszeitung. In 2006 he moved from Germany to the Norwegian capital of Oslo, where he currently lives. He mainly takes photographs for companies, corporate publishing houses and leading magazines in Scandinavia and Germany. Besides his daily work, he also does photographic projects for the German Goethe-Institut belfast sink on language and science.
In 2012 he received the Hansel-Mieth Prize, together with the journalist Nicola Abe, for his first Bastøy reportage published in Der Spiegel. A reportage about wood detectives for the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer belfast sink Protection was recently awarded the best reportage belfast sink at Deutscher Preis für Wissenschaftsfotografie His latest reportage on Bastøy Prison Island appears in the latest issue of LFI , which he describes in his own words below.
A: belfast sink I did a reportage on Bastøy Prison Island for the German belfast sink news magazine Der Spiegel in 2010. On this island, located in the Oslo Fjord in Norway, are 115 inmates, punished for serious crimes, guarded by at least four unarmed guards. When I talked to these guys, I met some of the big names in Norwegian crime history. At the same time, I was very impressed by Arne Kvernvik Nilsen, chief of the prison, and how he treats the inmates: I treat them with respect, he said, and don’t ask about their deeds. If they treat me the same way, they can succeed in society after their release. belfast sink
But this place, which can look like an idyllic society, is a tough place for those living belfast sink there because many of them have to learn to be responsible for their lives for the first time. And that is not always easy after a criminal belfast sink career and many years in a closed prison. The overall aim is to release them as citizens that can be part of the society and not getting into crime again. The numbers prove the concept. belfast sink
A couple of weeks after my first visit on the island, I got an email of one of the guards. Are you coming back? Quite a strange question. Since then, I had been thinking about visiting again and then I got the opportunity in cooperation with LFI.
A: To take photographs in a place, where in the beginning nobody wants to be photographed, the gear is quite important. The M is this friendly small thing, especially when it is used with small lenses, and not the huge black box covering your face while you try to connect with someone. But still, the M is not discreet. Every time I am out taking photographs with the M or M8.2, I get questions about What kind of camera is that? or Is it a Leica? But I like it. It opens opportunities when the potential model is interested in the photographers gear.
A: I met them with the same respect and politeness as I do when taking pictures of ministers, businesspeople, artists or other ordinary people. Besides that, the M attracts belfast sink attention. Not only on Bastøy, but almost every time I am out taking pictures with it. People get curious and start to ask questions about the camera. It s good start to open up with them.
Q: Of the Leica M lenses you used for this project, which one did you find the most useful, and when did you use the others? Also, since these images were evidently shot in natural daylight, what was your typical ISO setting, and did you shoot any pictures in low light at high ISOs?
A: In this project I mainly used the 28 mm and the 50 mm. The 28 mm was very useful to show the surroundings. One of my intentions was to show the island as an arena for the inmates. The 50 mm was useful to get a more concentrated view on the scene and the persons.
A feature I very much like with the new M is the Auto ISO function. It works perfect belfast sink for me. In this case, a typical ISO setting was between 200 and 400. But some of the pictures in the LFI magazine where shot with 2000 ISO also in ambient light. Even in my commercial photography belfast sink I am using the M with up to 2000 ISO without any doubt. On the contrary, I like the texture in the files exposed with between 800 and 2000 ISO.
Q: There is a certain matter-of-fact quality to the images in your Bastøy portfolio. One may not even suspect they were of a prison island without the story behind belfast sink them. They somehow convey an underlying feeling of sadness and hope as well as tranquil serenity. Do you agree, and if so was that your intention?
A: If you are hearing belfast sink about a documentary on a prison island then it is easy to think about Alcatraz and dramatic settings. The scenery on Bastøy is very different from that. It was not my intention to make it understandable on the first glance where we are. As it is written in LFI, the chief of the prison says: I treat the inmates wit
Ilja C. Hendel was born in Frankfurt / Main, Germany in 1971. He began his career in photography belfast sink in 1997 doing reportage and portraiture for a regional newspaper in southern Germany. He also has experience as a picture editor belfast sink for the German nationwide newspaper die tageszeitung. In 2006 he moved from Germany to the Norwegian capital of Oslo, where he currently lives. He mainly takes photographs for companies, corporate publishing houses and leading magazines in Scandinavia and Germany. Besides his daily work, he also does photographic projects for the German Goethe-Institut belfast sink on language and science.
In 2012 he received the Hansel-Mieth Prize, together with the journalist Nicola Abe, for his first Bastøy reportage published in Der Spiegel. A reportage about wood detectives for the German Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer belfast sink Protection was recently awarded the best reportage belfast sink at Deutscher Preis für Wissenschaftsfotografie His latest reportage on Bastøy Prison Island appears in the latest issue of LFI , which he describes in his own words below.
A: belfast sink I did a reportage on Bastøy Prison Island for the German belfast sink news magazine Der Spiegel in 2010. On this island, located in the Oslo Fjord in Norway, are 115 inmates, punished for serious crimes, guarded by at least four unarmed guards. When I talked to these guys, I met some of the big names in Norwegian crime history. At the same time, I was very impressed by Arne Kvernvik Nilsen, chief of the prison, and how he treats the inmates: I treat them with respect, he said, and don’t ask about their deeds. If they treat me the same way, they can succeed in society after their release. belfast sink
But this place, which can look like an idyllic society, is a tough place for those living belfast sink there because many of them have to learn to be responsible for their lives for the first time. And that is not always easy after a criminal belfast sink career and many years in a closed prison. The overall aim is to release them as citizens that can be part of the society and not getting into crime again. The numbers prove the concept. belfast sink
A couple of weeks after my first visit on the island, I got an email of one of the guards. Are you coming back? Quite a strange question. Since then, I had been thinking about visiting again and then I got the opportunity in cooperation with LFI.
A: To take photographs in a place, where in the beginning nobody wants to be photographed, the gear is quite important. The M is this friendly small thing, especially when it is used with small lenses, and not the huge black box covering your face while you try to connect with someone. But still, the M is not discreet. Every time I am out taking photographs with the M or M8.2, I get questions about What kind of camera is that? or Is it a Leica? But I like it. It opens opportunities when the potential model is interested in the photographers gear.
A: I met them with the same respect and politeness as I do when taking pictures of ministers, businesspeople, artists or other ordinary people. Besides that, the M attracts belfast sink attention. Not only on Bastøy, but almost every time I am out taking pictures with it. People get curious and start to ask questions about the camera. It s good start to open up with them.
Q: Of the Leica M lenses you used for this project, which one did you find the most useful, and when did you use the others? Also, since these images were evidently shot in natural daylight, what was your typical ISO setting, and did you shoot any pictures in low light at high ISOs?
A: In this project I mainly used the 28 mm and the 50 mm. The 28 mm was very useful to show the surroundings. One of my intentions was to show the island as an arena for the inmates. The 50 mm was useful to get a more concentrated view on the scene and the persons.
A feature I very much like with the new M is the Auto ISO function. It works perfect belfast sink for me. In this case, a typical ISO setting was between 200 and 400. But some of the pictures in the LFI magazine where shot with 2000 ISO also in ambient light. Even in my commercial photography belfast sink I am using the M with up to 2000 ISO without any doubt. On the contrary, I like the texture in the files exposed with between 800 and 2000 ISO.
Q: There is a certain matter-of-fact quality to the images in your Bastøy portfolio. One may not even suspect they were of a prison island without the story behind belfast sink them. They somehow convey an underlying feeling of sadness and hope as well as tranquil serenity. Do you agree, and if so was that your intention?
A: If you are hearing belfast sink about a documentary on a prison island then it is easy to think about Alcatraz and dramatic settings. The scenery on Bastøy is very different from that. It was not my intention to make it understandable on the first glance where we are. As it is written in LFI, the chief of the prison says: I treat the inmates wit
No comments:
Post a Comment