Mette Tronvoll

Svalbard # 1 C-print, 2014, 80 x 80 cm

Svalbard, 2014

The Svalbard series is the result of Tronvoll’s two-year investigation into the renowned Arctic Archipelago situated midway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. It traces the different histories and characteristics of a place marked by global political, geographic and commercial interests. With the unsentimental sincerity characteristic of her work, Tronvoll’s photographs depict the relics of Arctic explorations and coal mining activities, scientists’ daily investigations or “just” the sublime landscape with an immediacy that allows for a one-to-one encounter with the beholder. The direct encounter becomes clearly visible in Tronvoll’s works deriving from one particular place on Svalbard: the settlement of Ny-Ålesund, a former mining village that today houses international science stations researching subjects such as climate change, meteorology, the aurora borealis, deep sea currents or biological diversity. It is at this settlement that Tronvoll gives the most honest and personal insight into contemporary life on Svalbard, without neglecting its fascinating aspects and projections, or its importance on a global scale.