GENERATOR

Per Berntsen

Per Berntsen (*1953) has been commissioned by the Norwegian companies Statkraft and Hydro to document hydroelectric plants since 2002/03. The artist has succeeded not only in portraying the complex functional architecture of the buildings in a compelling manner, but also in making the industrial structures appear in a harmonic relationship to the surrounding landscape. Berntsen seems to appraise industrial landscapes using natural landscape criteria – giving the technical aspects of the sites the same attention as the natural environment. His photographs are characterised by a clear and authentic aesthetic that admits no alienation of the actual objects. The technical elements, such as generators and turbines, seem almost sculptural to lay observers and evoke a growing curiosity. The photographer keeps a visible distance from his subjects; he mediates not illusionistic or illustrative images, but insights into a part of the Norwegian man-made landscape that is generally hidden from the conventional traveller. Petra Schmidt-Dreyblatt