La Plaça de les Tres Xemeneies, #65, El Poble-sec, Barcelona, 2021
“… to live is to make yourself vulnerable.”
“… after I started taking pictures, I found that I can stop time, with a picture. That’s what inspires me. The fact that you can freeze time.”
–Lene Marie Fossen (1986-2019)
Can we separate her work from her illness?
Yes… and no, in my opinion.
Certainly, if it weren’t for her incredibly emotional (and shocking) self-portraits while in the end stages of her disease, she might not be nearly as well known.
At the same time, though, her art most definitely stands on its own as the work of a master, all mental health issues aside.
Who was she?
She was a very talented young Norwegian woman who graced our Planet Earth from 1986 until her too-soon death in 2019.
Her bio begins:
“Lene Marie Fossen was an autodidact Norwegian photographer. She rejected the linear progression of time that forced her to go through puberty and stopped eating at the tender age of 10. She struggled with anorexia for the rest of her life. Fossen chose to be open about her disease and found her means of expression in photography.”
She was very determined to be accepted as a serious and gifted art photographer in her own right, and not so much for her struggle with anorexia (although she did work to bring awareness to this issue as well). I believe that this recognition did happen while she was still alive–and that it is still happening around the world as audiences, other photogs, curators, and museums continue to discover her work.
I personally am saddened that her love for the art of photography did not do more to nudge her toward a path of recovery.
The world has lost a great talent.
Her Documentary Film, Self Portrait, Is Now Out
A two-minute trailer…
For more…
See the Lene Marie Fossen website.
You’ll need no commentary from me to see the tremendous power of her imagery.
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