Ole Marius Joergensen (born 1976) is an artist with a background in film based in Asker, Norway. He recently published his book No. Superhero. The book contains his major photo series he made during the last five years. The book features meticulously staged, cinematic photographs that depict seemingly ordinary situations infused with a juxtaposed narrative.

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A child of 80s rural Norway, he became fascinated with suburban America, like the popular narratives told on screen by Steven Spielberg and author Stephen King. Drawn to the descriptive narrative and quality of light, he found himself wanting to create his own stories. In his first book No. Superhero you find series dating from 2014 onwards. Starting with the title series of the book No. Superhero. In this series, Joergensen plays with his childhood hero. At the age of seven, he became obsessed with heroes, loving their adventurous lives. He decided to make Superman the protagonist of his series, in which it becomes clear that Superman is an absolute anti-hero, namely just a human being. He tries to fly but fails, looking jealously at a bird in the sky.

The little book contains other series, such as Space Travels, about an astronaut in the Norwegian mountains, resulting in dark but hilarious photos. Vignettes of a Salesman is a love letter to simple times of Scandinavia. The images show a lonely man, probably a salesman with a raincoat and a suitcase in his hand, travelling in the dark and desolate rural areas. It echoes, without realizing it, of course, the lonely times we live in since the corona year 2020. These photos seem an illustration of the book The Lonely Century by the economist Noreena Hertz, who describes the fragmentation of our society. All the series in this book breath the same air of desolation and loneliness, which is the common denominator in Joergensen’s work.

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Finding the red

Artdoc had an interview with Joergensen. He explains his vision: “I usually place my visual looks back in time as a statement that in the present time, everything is void of feeling and soul. We see only mass-produced, cheap-looking crap. Just look at bus stops and everything from road signs to street lights. Things do not look beautiful, but very cheap."

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Ole Marius Joergensen (born 1976) is an artist with a background in film based in Asker, Norway. He is best known for his meticulously staged cinematic photographs. With the use of theatrical light and vivid colour juxtapositions, Ole Marius’ work emphasizes the mystery and duality of rural life in the modern world.

More About the book

hardcover – 80 pages – matte paper
170x230mm – 1.2 kg – English
Isbn – 9789187815461

Publisher: New Heroes & Pioneers

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