Back to the State of Nature

The work of photographer Elin Høyland focusses on people who live in complete isolation in rural areas of Norway. Mostly without offspring, these solitary people tend to live alone or with their siblings in their parental homes. Høyland portrays the people by means of their belongings or the buildings they live or have lived in.

“Edvard Bjelland grew up with his parents and five siblings on an old farm in the south-west of Norway. He is the fourth generation to own the farm. In the past they still had horses, cows, pigs, chickens and over 100 sheep. Nowadays Edvard no longer has any animals and he leases out the land. The 1800s farmhouse is a listed building and stands as an example of farming in the past. Since his sister Bergit died in 2011, Edvard also has to take care of her house, which is just a stone’s throw away from the parental home. Edvard is unmarried and has no children to whom he can one day leave the farm.”

In her pictures, Høyland goes in search if the reality behind the lives of the two siblings. The book Brother | Sister documenting Edvard and his sister’s story will appear in November 2015, published by Dewi Lewis.