ØYVIND HJELMEN: Being Here

Øyvind Hjelmen’s 30-year practice in photography—as any fortunate gallery director, book publisher, editor, critic, or friend can attest to—has been his presentation of an entire portfolio of photographs contained within a matchbox-sized container. Being Here, Hjelmen’s fourth monograph, a clothbound limited edition of 360 signed and numbered copies, expands and recontextualizes this experience in book form. After opening with a poem by Nobel laureate Jon Fosse, the book takes readers on a visually poetic and interior journey of Hjelmen’s enigmatic photography. The collection reflects a human desire or inclination (similar to photography itself) to leave a mark, to express “I was here” or “We were here,” even if only momentarily. Like Hjelmen’s portfolios, the expertly printed photographs in Being Here are reproduced small but reveal a surprising amount of clarity and possess a quiet resonance. As the open narrative unfolds page by page, evocative themes emerge: home, travel, awakening, abandonment, transcendence, wandering, loneliness, reflection, and memory. The book allows viewers to decode the layers and narratives while inevitably drawing their feelings, memories, and associations into the personal yet universal images. Being Here is a unique book that may be the most true-to-form expression of Hjelmen’s photographic journey.

Awarded Gold/Fine Art Book - Budapest International Foto Awards

“Øyvind Hjelmen is a photographer of the integrity of the gaze; the work [in Being Here] accomplishes the meeting of the poetic and the miniatures with their infinite spaces. A true archeology of words and things, these images are the eloquence of the world whose narrators Foucault praised.” —Xavier Soule, VU’ Galerie & Agence

“It takes a lot of boldness and talent to publish, so well, a book whose images are so small. [. . .] Being Here, by photographer Øyvind Hjelmen, could be a song of silence, a dream of peace, the dream of a discreet artistic gesture not wishing to disturb the order of things by its presence or its practice.” —Fabien Ribery, L’intervalle

“. . . In the aging wallpaper that has witnessed stories that have long escaped memory / In the familiar perfume of naked skin that invites a warming touch / In the presence of the same objects and places that ask nothing of us / In all of this, there remains something to be found, to be seen, and felt afresh / To be here is to accept and embrace, to cherish whilst we still have time to” —Alex Prior, Photobook Reviewer

“In his pictures Øyvind Hjelmen manages to find the exact moment when something invisible becomes visible in what you see.” —Jon Fosse, Nobel laureate (Literature 2023)

“Øyvind Hjelmen’s world is elsewhere; his images reflect an internal landscape where reality has no access and daylight rarely penetrates.” —Laura Serani, Curator

ØYVIND HJELMEN has worked with photography for 30 years and specializes in masterfully hand-printed black and white gelatin silver prints, hand-bound artist books and portfolios, and large-format unique photograms. He holds a BA in Modern Art and Aesthetics from the University of Bergen. His works have been exhibited in 15 countries and are held in several public and private collections, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts. Being Here is Hjelmen’s fourth monograph, following Elsewhere (Kehrer, 2010), Moments Reflected (SKP, 2020), and Broken Shadow (Kehrer, 2022). He lives and works on the island of Stord, off the west coast of Norway.

JON FOSSE is a Norwegian author, translator, and playwright. In 2023, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his innovative plays and prose, which give voice to the unsayable.” Fosse’s work includes over seventy novels, poems, children’s books, essays, and theatre plays, translated into over fifty languages.

Published by Skeleton Key Press, November 2024
ISBN 978-82-692410-8-2
21 x 24 cm (8.2 x 9.4 in)
Hardcover (clothbound/tipped-in images (front and back)/foil stamped), 112 pages, 69 duotone plates
Edited by Øyvind Hjelmen and Russell Joslin
Designed by Russell Joslin
Poem by Jon Fosse
Text in English and Norwegian

First Edition, limited to 360 copies, each signed and numbered by the artist

BOOKS WITH PRINTS: There are twenty Special Editions available, each including a silver gelatin print. Three Exclusive Editions come with a collector’s box and a portfolio containing ten silver gelatin prints. For more information or to order, please contact Øyvind Hjelmen directly.